Phoenix's Eye: Apocrypha
by Fenghuang0296
Summary: "Hey, Kynigós. What's that?""Oh, this? It's my journal,""What sorts of things do you write in it?""Poems about how much I hate everything, including you,""Really?""No, just stuff that happens,""Like what?" "Nothing much. It's not even a true story. Not anymore, anyway,""Like the apocryphic texts of the Bible?""Yeah, exactly. An Apocrypha," Part 1.5 of the Phoenix's Eye Trilogy.
1. What The Hell Happened?

Log #1: What The Hell Happened?

 ** _Previously, on The Guild Next Door . . ._**

 _"Diamauros, and everyone in it, including ourselves, are currently adrift outside of space and time," Master Feng Chriona solemnly nodded._

 _Pierce Kynigós groaned. "I only just got to this new world of magic, and now we're somewhere else entirely? That pisses me off, and I wanna take my anger out on something,"_

 _{Apo-C}_

 _"Well! Look what I've found!" Equivaton, the Earth Dragon, boomed, seeming to salivate at the sight of the humans. "It's been so long since I've eaten!"_

 _"Why is a dragon here in the out-of-time anyway, old hag?" Lync demanded._

 _"How should I know, you little brat? This has never happened before!" Feng retorted._

 _{Apo-C}_

 _"Oi!" The Earth Dragon turned, just in time to see a camo-coated blur dash up his leg and onto his back. "Don't get the wrong idea, but I still have a claim to your head, dragon! So I'm not letting anything else touch you until it's my turn!" Kynigós yelled._

 _Snarling, Equivaton tossed his head around, hoping to dislodge the hunter now nestled between his wings, but to no avail; Kynigós was holding on tight. "Look, you great brute, it's a good plan! You're powerful enough to smash shit and from here I can cover your blind spot!" he shouted, cocking his rifle._

 _"With that toothpick?" Equivaton snorted, but, in spite of how angry he was that this whelp dared to ride him like some mount, he has to admit that his proposal was sound. "Ugh, fine. But if you get killed it's your own fault," he growled, spreading his wings and lifting off._

 _{Apo-C}_

 _Suddenly, as it was splattered with white time magic, the final remaining chain holding the Earth Dragon and the Sempiternal Phoenix together snapped and broke apart._

 _There was a moment of silence as the stunned realisation of what had happened sunk into everyone. Pierce Blastreyne, looking up at Equivaton in dismay, caught the briefest glimpse of Pierce Kynigós' horrified face._

 _And then the Sempiternal Phoenix shook and pitched forwards, rotating on an axis within the river of time, and what had been like an ocean rushing beneath their feets was suddenly rising up above them in a tsunami, engulfing them. Alice, Master Feng and Donna were gone in a flash, quickly followed by Lync, Tyria and Garrotte, and, looking up, Pierce caught one final glimpse of Equivaton, as well as his counterpart, being sucked into the time stream ahead of them, and then he, too, was being engulfed by the whiteness of time._

 _{Apo-C}_

My name is Deadeye Pierce Kynigós. And I have no idea what the _actual fuck_ is going on.

Yesterday, I was in Edolas, my home dimension, hunting down the bastard King Faust, the man who was responsible for my guild, Phoenix's Eye, being destroyed. Yeah. I once held the title of the greatest hunter in Edolas. Self-proclaimed, but whatever. Unfortunately, I ran into who I at first thought was my old friend Tyria. Which didn't make much sense, because I saw her die a few months ago.

Turns out she was the version of Tyria from another dimension, a place called Earth Land. There was a messy fight with some freak named Monday, and I ended up sucked into her Earth Land place and meeting her Phoenix's Eye. Including my own otherdimensional counterpart, "Pierce Blastreyne".

He's an animal-loving hippie with a stupid name. I have no idea what weirdo Tyria sees in him.

Anyway. I was there for all of an hour before some time machine thing called the 'Sempiternal Phoenix' got turned on and blasted everyone, including the entirety of Earth Land Phoenix's Eye and myself, into some void outside space and time. And that's where we met a dragon.

Yeah, see this big brown thing I'm standing on? That's Equivaton, the Earth Dragon. We somehow ran into him in that void place, and he helped the lot of us drive the Sempiternal Phoenix back into space and time. And I stuck with him over other Phoenix's Eye because, hello? He's a dragon! What sort of hunter would I be if I didn't make sure that I, and only I, got to hunt and kill a dragon? So of course I need to keep him safe until I get the opportunity to take his head.

Thing is, me and Equivaton got separated from the locals, and now . . well . . I have no idea where or when we are. There's a lot of ruins, though. Like this place used to be a city or something.

I should be writing this down. Hold on.

{Apo-C}

And so Kynigós, using his prosthetic steel arm, fished his travel log out of his hunter's pack and transcribed everything that he had just thought through into his journal, before reading back over it.

"Hey," he muttered. "I was going to kill the dragon,"

Leaping off Equivaton's flank, he scrabbled to the ground and ran towards where he knew the massive, unconscious dragon's throat was. Upon reaching the massive, earthy brown region of scales, he unslung his rifle from the strap that was attached to his khaki coat and levelled it at the great creature's throat. It would be so easy to pull the trigger, to kill this creature and take his head.

"Go ahead, fleshbag. Try it," a low rumble sounded. Kynigós looked up, and saw Equivaton shifting his head.

The dragon was so huge that he could snatch up a small building in one claw. He was built with bulging muscles and coated in scales that were mostly earth brown, but dark tan in the underside with several sand green streaks running across his body. An impressive crown of six silver horns crowned his dinosaur-like head, a long, muscular tail with sharpened spikes running all the way from his neck to the tip of his tail, and serrated silver claws adorned each of his digits on his four claws. Thick, leathery wings crusted over with what almost looked like solid rock were folded on his back, the joints adorned with spikes. Even lying on his side, the dragon was a mighty, majestic creature.

"Like I'd do anything else!" the hunter shouted, and fired at his throat.

Nothing happened.

Both Equivaton and Kynigós were confused by this development. Kynigós fired again, and again. Still nothing.

He frowned, spotting glints of metal among the dragon's scales, and, lowering his weapon, the blond boy strode forwards and inspected the great beast's throat.

The three bullets were buried in the tan scales of Equivaton's underbelly. Even the weakest part of the dragon's body was too thick for Kynigós to pierce it.

"I need a bigger gun," the hunter snapped, storming away.

Equivaton softly chuckled. "You're a spirited little thing, aren't you?" he exhaled, picking himself up and rising to his full height.

"Shut the hell up!" Kynigós barked at him, casting around as though he expected to find a convenient bazooka lying a few feet away. "You just wait until I get my hands on something bigger!"

The Earth Dragon continued to chuckle, lifting his head and taking a deep breath - and then he paused. He took another sniff, looking around, and Kynigós registered that something had changed in his expression.

"I smell dragon," he hissed, stepping closer to Kynigós.

"So what?" the hunter questioned. "You're a big-ass dragon! Of course we can smell it!"

"No, you loud little cretin. I smell _other_ dragons. Multiple ones," Equivaton clarified.

Kynigós was about to respond, but an ear-splitting roar interrupted them, and both human and dragon turned to the left.

In the distance, they saw two more large dragons. One was thick, muscled, coated in black scales with white, bony ridges and a long, white spike on the very end of its tail. The second bore silvery scales that overlapped like plates of armour, with wide wings that looked sharp and a long, lashing tail. Several cracks in its armour were dripping blood.

"Oi. Fleshbag," Equivaton couldn't believe he was saying this. "Climb on," he declared.

"What? Why?" Kynigós blinked.

"Because, call me a sentimental old lizard, but I don't particularly want to leave you in a ruin full of rampaging dragons," Equivaton snorted, picking up Kynigós between two claws and dropping him on his neck, where the hunter slid down to land in the same spot between his wing joints as before.

"This feels counterproductive," the boy groused as Equivaton, content that he was secure, charged forwards, prepared to intervene, and within moments he was glaring up at the two fighting dragons. "What is going on here?!" he roared, immediately getting the two's attention.

The black one landed, proving herself to be only slightly smaller than Equivaton, and hissed; "Thisss one'sss a human-lover!"

The second, clearly injured and exhausted, collapsed to the ground in a heap, and the Earth Dragon rapidly interspersed himself between the two. "Is that important?" he growled. "She is one of our kin. There is no reason to fight her,"

"No? When ssshe hidesss a dwelling of humansss in this, the ruins of their greatessst city?" the bony one retorted, gnashing her teeth and revealing a forked tongue. "I am Nefartari, the Crypt Dragon! We dragonsss are the ownersss of thisss world, and humansss are a ssscourge upon thisss world, and I ssshall sssee it cleansssed!"

Equivaton stepped forwards, baring menhir-like teeth. "I don't care what your reasons are. I will not see my kin fight," he snorted.

"You're wrong," came a rasping cry, and both dragons turned to see the silver one weakly trying to stand up. "I'm . . not . ." She broke off into a fit of rasping coughs, and Equivaton glared at Nefartari.

"Why do you care, anyway?" the Crypt Dragon hissed.

"Because I have seen dragons fight before, and I will not allow it again," Equivaton growled. "Leave, before I force you to,"

Nefartari gritted her teeth, before scoffing and turning away, spreading her wings to take flight and leave. Meanwhile, Equivaton turned and crouched over the silver dragon, inspecting her injuries. She was only a little over half his size, though her wings were larger.

"Th - thank you," she spluttered, looking upwards, and green eyes met his red. Equivaton nodded, but started in concern as she shakily got to her feet and started in the same direction as Nefartari had gone. "She lured . . me . . I need to get . ." Only a few steps in, she collapsed, her rear right leg with its massive gash across the side giving out and sending her sprawling.

"What's the matter?" Equivaton questioned, but the dragoness' laboured breathing enabled no response.

"Move, you big lizard. There's obviously something important in that direction!" Kynigós shouted. For his part, Equivaton growled at being addressed in this manner, but nodded, accepting that the hunter was right. "Well, I shan't leave her," he declared, carefully unfolding his wing and spreading it beneath the dragoness, before raising it and sliding her onto his back. Kynigós shouted in shock and frantically scrambled up the incline of Equivaton's neck, ending up almost directly in front of the unfamiliar dragon's snout.

"Good thing she's light," the Earth Dragon rumbled. Of course, he couldn't fly with a burden like that, so he set off on foot, following the direction that the unknown dragoness had initially begun to move in.

And then there was an explosion, a massive plume of black smoke in the distance. Equivaton drew up in surprise, before wordlessly growling and charging forwards at a vastly increased speed.

It wasn't long before they came upon a large building that might have once been some kind of warehouse. However, now it was a smouldering ruin - and Nefartari was wheeling around overhead, shrieking with joy.

However, she cut herself off as soon as she spotted Equivaton. "You!" the dragoness snarled, dive-bombing the Earth Dragon.

In response, the beast roared, blasting a massive whirlwind filled with jagged chunks of rock at the other dragon. Nefartari wheeled and dodged, landing a couple of hundred metres away.

"What have you done?" Equivaton growled, shaking his body and letting the limp dragoness, along with Kynigós, slide off his back.

"What that filthy human lover had coming to her," the Crypt Dragon hissed in response.

Just then, the silver dragoness regained enough sense to open her eyes - and she screamed in horror at the sight of the burning warehouse. With no thought for her own safety, she charged forward, narrowly avoiding treading on Kynigós, and leapt into it, seemingly frantically searching for something. The hunter, curious, followed her, while Equivaton kept one eye on the dragoness and one on Nefartari.

But all eyes were drawn to the injured dragon as she let out an anguished cry, before gently, precariously, gripping something in her mouth and raising it, grief in her eyes.

Nefartari smiled darkly.

Kynigós gasped.

Equivaton growled.

Clutched in the dragoness' maw was the shattered remains, still dripping with viscous fluid, of a dragon egg.

"That was a _nest?_ " the Earth Dragon demanded, staring with absolute hatred at Nefartari.

"It wasss a human hideout. The fact that ssshe kept eggsss in there alssso isss of no consssequenssse," the black dragoness snorted.

"You -" Equivaton roared, lunging forwards in a full-body tackle. Caught by surprise, Nefartari allowed herself to be knocked onto her back with little resistance, and only barely moved her head in time to avoid Equivaton pounding it into dust.

Meanwhile, Kynigós followed in the mother dragon's wake, charging into the ruin, where he was immediately confronted with the silver dragoness staggering about, desperately searching for any of her eggs that might still be intact. He'd leave that to her. The other dragon had mentioned that there were humans in here. If there were any survivors . . He growled, remembering the massacre of his guild, before charging into the wreckage.

Equivaton roared, smashing his tail into Nefartari, but the smaller dragon was too quick, leaping over it and blasting a breath attack that consisted of some kind of purple energy at him. It caught the Earth Dragon on the shoulder and he growled, before his wing flashed out and smacked into his enemy, cuffing her across the neck.

She landed in a skid, growling, and turned to retaliate - but Equivaton was already thundering towards her, his head lowered for a staggering headbutt.

The impact anded with a dull boom, throwing the Crypt Dragon into the air. Spreading her wings, Nefartari caught herself and hovered. "You ungrateful little whelp," she growled, dive-bombing the larger dragon. Equivaton tried to dodge, but she immediately corrected and pounded him into the ground, before launching herself skywards again.

Kynigós gasped, spotting a worn shoe poking out from under a chunk of wall. Flexing his metal arm, he removed the debris, revealing the spot to the open air.

Contained within was the corpse of what had once been a young man, whose left leg had been crushed by the collapse, and whose entire upper right side of the body had been burnt away, reducing flesh to ash and exposing charred and blackened bones. He was obviously dead.

Turning away, a choked sob from the mother dragoness caught his attention as she gently extricated an egg that looked cracked, but intact, from a pile of broken bricks. A smile tugged at Kynigós lips. That didn't look like major damage. Maybe the hatchling within was still alive?

As the dragoness turned and placed it with the others, a massive chunk was revealed to be missing from its side.

Kynigós' jaw set. If there were any survivors, he would have found them by now. Time to go do something useful.

Just as he made this resolution, Equivaton spread his wings, fully intending to take to the air after Nefartari, only for her to launch another breath attack, targeting his left wing. Equivaton hastily retracted the appendage before it could be blasted to shreds, and the shockwave from the shot impacting directly next to him sent him sprawling sideways.

And Nefartari took advantage of his moment of weakness, speeding down and pinning the larger dragon's neck and wings. "You blasssted whelp," she hissed, raising a single claw and running it along Equivaton's flank without breaking the scales, until she reached the spot directly over his heart. "You ssshouldn't have interfered,"

"You think I'm afraid of you?" Equivaton retorted, baring his teeth at her. "Please. You barely even rate,"

"You think ssso?" Nefartari demanded, baring her own teeth and opening her mouth wide, pausing just inches from biting into his neck and tearing his head off. "Haw aghout nahw?"

"What was that?" Equivaton chuckled.

With a growl rising in her throat, the Crypt Dragon repeated herself.

"You shouldn't talk with your mouth full. Did your dam never teach you that?" the Earth Dragon retorted.

"Don't you dare talk of my dam!" Nefartari raged as she retraced her mouth, before driving her claw into Equivaton's wing joint. Gritting his teeth, the dragon refused to give her the satisfaction of crying out in pain as blood spurted from the wound.

"Oi! Snake breath!" A shout rang out from nearby, and Nefartari turned in surprise, before spotting a human coated in khaki with something clutched in his hand running towards her. She grinned, rippling her forked tongue and glaring with her right eye, unwilling to move, even to address the human. "An appetissser? How deliciousss,"

"Eat this!" Kynigós roared, tossing the object from his hunter's pack into the air, where it sailed towards Nefartari's exposed eye. The dragoness snorted and closed her eyelid. Even the thin membrane that protected her eye would be sufficient to deflect any projectile a puny human could throw at it, she was certain of that. And she continued to be certain of it right until the object, a dusty bottle, made contact with her eyelid.

And then the impromptu Molotov Cocktail that Kynigós had engineered exploded.

Nefartari roared in shock and pain, staggering away and letting go of Equivaton - who jackknifed to his feet and blasted a roar of Earth at her.

"Forget thisss," the dragoness hissed, spreading her wings and leaping into the air, keeping her injured eye shut tight. Another shot of Equivaton's breath attack encouraged her to accelerate her retreat.

Gingerly cradling his hurt wing, Equivaton wheeled and regarded Kynigós. "That . . was impressive," he rumbled.

Kynigós shrugged. "All I had to do was repurpose some of my stun grenades with an old bottle I found in the warehouse,"

"We should return. She will need a shoulder to cry on," the dragon asserted, gesturing to the ruined warehouse. Kynigós nodded, and the two made their way back.

{Apo-C}

When they returned to the warehouse, it was evident that something was wrong.

The silver dragoness was lying, morose, tail wrapped protectively around a pile of shattered egg remnants. A couple seemed mostly intact, but evidently her efforts to find one that was undamaged had been fruitless. But, more importantly, the dragoness wasn't moving, and her injuries were still dripping blood.

"Oh no," Kynigós breathed.

"If you even think about taking this opportunity to 'kill a dragon' -" Equivaton rumbled with a warning tone, but Kynigós wasn't having any of it.

"What the hell do you take me for, you big lizard? A poacher?" he demanded. "I hunt beasts because I respect them. Because it's a challenge. My best against theirs. If I killed her at a time like this, there'd be no challenge, no thrill! Just a - an empty victory!" he shouted.

Equivaton blinked, before slowly nodding. "You have a point," he admitted. He couldn't believe he was saying this . . but the more he found out about him, the more he grew to like this feisty little human. Indeed, he was half tempted to . . hmm.

While he was thinking, Kynigós rushed up to the limp dragoness and started inspecting her wounds. Coming to a gash on her flank, he opened up his backpack and started rummaging through it. He groaned in dismay. "Damnit! I don't have enough bandages for wounds this big!"

"You . . would help me?" The hunter looked up to see the silver dragoness weakly raising her head and looking at him.

"Well, yeah. Why the hell shouldn't I?" Pierce Kynigós demanded.

The dragon struggled with herself, before starting to rise - but the effort was too great for her and she collapsed, sending a glut of blood spurting from her wound. The splash caught Kynigós' forearms and coat, as well as washing across his thighs and feet, and he groaned. "Great. How am I gonna get this shit off?" he questioned, inspecting his palm, now dropping with dragon blood.

"Come here," the silver dragoness beckoned, and Kynigós, frowning, stepped away from the wound and approached her head. "I don't have long for this world . . but I can do one last good to aid a boy like you," she murmured, before a hacking cough overcame her.

Equivaton frowned, watching the process, but didn't interfere.

"I am Kixezen, the Life Dragon," the dragoness murmured, forcing herself to move her snout forwards, until Kynigós was mere inches from the tip of the massive dragon. She could have swallowed him in one bite, but, instead, she parted her jaws and exhaled, blowing a stream of glowing white energy at Kynigós. "The power of old, born anew. Lies swept away, revealing the truth. And in barren soil," She suddenly broke off into a fit of coughing. A thick globule of her blood emerged from her throat and hit Kynigós' chest, immediately soaking through his jacket and shirt. "A seed may grow," she finished.

She eyed Equivaton and told him, "Take good care of him. Teach him. Let him grow," before turning back to Kynigós and adding, "Be all the good you can be," With those final words, Kixezen heaved a great sigh, and her eyes closed.

"She's dead," Kynigós spoke, and Equivaton nodded. "Undoubtedly,"

"What did she do?" the hunter questioned, looking himself over. He didn't feel any different . .

"I'm sure we'll find out. In the meantime, we should find sources of food and water. And,above all else, information. What year it is, what the current state of the world is, everything," Equivaton resolved.

"Yeah, I guess you're right about that. I suppose I'll have to hold off on killing you for a while longer, then," Kynigós sighed, sitting down on a chunk of rubble.

"We ought to move. There's no reason to stay here," the Earth Dragon ascertained. "But I can't fly with my wing like this," he griped, looking at the bloody wound in his wing joint.

"Will it heal?" the hunter questioned.

"Probably. Eventually," he sighed. "But in the meantime, I suppose I get to be the Earth- _bound_ Dragon,"

They both chuckled at that.

Kynigós was about to pick himself up and prepare to leave, but a faint noise caught his attention. "What was that?" he questioned, looking around.

Equivaton rumbled, expecting a threat.

The nose sounded again, and this time, now that he was expecting it, he isolated the location. It was coming from the pile of shattered eggs.

"No," the Earth Dragon blinked, shocked. He too had located the source of the noise.

Slowly, carefully, Kynigós crept towards the pile, taking careful steps around its circumference.

And then he saw it.

Emerging from one of the cracked, but mostly intact eggs that Kynigós had written off before, was the pale-scaled, triangular, head of a dragon hatchling.

A/N

 **A/N**

 **Okay, so here's the rub;**

 **The Apocrypha storyline is going to run on a tangent to the main Phoenix's Eye plot. Every third week, instead of posting to Crowns of Thorns, I will instead put up the next chapter of Apocrypha.**

 **And I'm really trying to push myself to adopt a different tone with this part of the story. After all, there's a reason I chose Kynigós, the dark and twisted version of Pierce, to be the lead for this arc.**

 **Just remember what I said; this isn't Phoenix's Eye anymore. War.**


	2. Sense? Never Heard Of It

Log #2: Sense? Never Heard Of It.

So, here's my day so far.

I woke up in god knows where, with a dragon who I have every intention of killing as soon as I get the opportunity. But before I could, we got interrupted by a couple of _other_ dragons who were fighting over a nest. I would normally consider myself spoiled for choice, but the circumstances are . . less than perfect.

One of them died, who was the owner of the nest, but me and Equivaton scared the other off. And I threw a bomb into her eye. So that was the highlight of my day.

Also, before the mother dragoness died, she did . . something to me. Something about renewal and seeds growing in barren soil. I dunno.

Thing is, just after she died, one of the eggs that we thought was dead? It hatched. And now there's a baby dragon sitting in my lap and trying to chew on my journal.

Y'now, I should probably focus on that and write later.

{Apo-C}

"Will you please get him off me?" Kynigós questioned, looking at Equivaton.

"No. I'm enjoying this too much," the Earth Dragon snorted. "Besides, you ought to be aware that _he_ is a _she_ ,"

The nascent dragon, whose scales were an ivory white, with long spines like sword blades running down her back and a vertical fan at the end of her tail that consisted of four of those blades, and glossy black on her underbelly and wing membranes. One, slightly curved horn was mounted on the end of her snout at right angles to the slant of her skull, with two more protruding from the back of her head and curving upwards. Even as a hatchling, she was almost as big as the human she was fawning over.

"Well, why won't _she_ leave me alone?" Kynigós demanded.

"You're the first person she saw after hatching, and you're covered in dragon blood. You smell like a dragon, and she's too young to know the difference between humans and dragons," Equivaton explained.

"So she's _imprinted_ on me or something?" the hunter demanded, pressing a hand to the top of the dragon's head, between her horns, and trying to push her inquisitive jaws away from his travel log. She gurgled in pleasure and bowed her head in response. Raising an eyebrow at this reaction, Kynigós splayed his fingers and scratched between her horns, eliciting more delighted draconian giggles.

"That's a good way to put it," the Earth Dragon nodded.

"Great. So I'm mothering a baby dragon," Kynigós groaned.

"If it helps, think of yourself as an older brother," Equivaton snorted in dry amusement, bending over. Kynigós started as the great dragon gently caught both his backpack and the dragonet's tail in his jaws, lifting them up, before depositing them on his back. "We still need to move. All three of us," he ascertained.

"Well, yeah. But what about her?" Kynigós questioned, gesturing to the baby, who was eyeing her new surroundings with glee.

"Make sure she doesn't fall off," the Earth Dragon rumbled. And, with an explosive motion, he threw himself through a hole in the wall of the old warehouse and took off, keeping his wings furled tight and creating a protective barrier to keep Kynigós and the baby in place as he pelted through the ruins, making for the edge of the destroyed city.

"I really hate you sometimes!" the hunter shouted.

{Apo-C}

The three left the city behind, and emerged into the wilderness, which, remarkably, looked rather normal. There were, of course, signs of dragon presence, but it didn't take long for Equivaton to find a clearing with a stream running through it that didn't seem inhabited.

"The hatchling needs a name," Equivaton rumbled as he deposited Pierce and the baby on the ground.

"Yeah, I realised that too. But right now, I think the hatchling also needs to eat," Kynigós pointed out. "Did you consider that? How are we supposed to get milk for her?"

Equivaton snorted. "Dragons are not mammals. Our young eat meat from birth. We just need to find some wildlife for dinner,"

"Well," A smile tugged at Kynigós lips, and he shouldered his rifle. "Leave that to Edolas' greatest hunter,"

{Apo-C}

As the boy crept through the forest, he realised something had changed. There was something . . sharper about the world around him. Lines were clearer, colours more vibrant.

On a sudden instinct, he whirled and fired. The gunshot pierced the flank of a large hare, which collapsed to the ground, leaking blood.

Kynigós blinked. How had he known . . Instincts and practice. Had to be. He was just getting even better.

{Apo-C}

When he returned, a trio of hares were hanging from his belt and a deer slung over his shoulder.

"Excellent," Equivaton smiled as he returned to the little camp site. Kynigós noted that he had been busy too; a hollow shell of rock had been erected, which he could see contained the dragonet. "So, have you thought of a name for the hatchling?"

"Why should I think of it? You're the dragon here. She's a dragon too, and she should have a dragon name!" Kynigós hollered up at him.

Equivaton drew breath to respond, but paused. "What do you mean, 'a dragon name'?" he asked.

"You know perfectly well what I mean, you big lizard. Who ever heard of a human named 'Equivaton?" the hunter demanded as he ducked into the little nest and offered the baby one of the hares, which she eagerly snapped at. He dropped it at her feet, and she bent over and devoured it in a few bites.

"Who ever heard of a human named 'Kynigós'?" Equivaton turned his words back at him.

"It's my surname, dumbass. My first name is Pierce," the hunter hollered. "But apparently this dimension already has a 'Pierce', so I'm using Kynigós. My surname,"

"That's how human names work? Ridiculous," Equivaton huffed.

"Like you're one to talk!" Kynigós shouted, and the hatchling briefly imagined his head swelling, his eyes turning into white semicircles and his teeth growing spiky. "What the hell is 'Equivaton' supposed to mean anyway? At least Kynigós translates to something. It means ' _hunter_ '! I am Pierce Hunter!"

"More like Pierce Blabber," Equivaton snorted.

"That's it, dragon!" the hotheaded hunter declared, pulling his pack back on and unslinging his gun. "I'm taking your head, right here and right now!" he yelled, striding up to Equivaton's massive foot and kicking him, before using his metal arm to hoist himself up the side of his leg.

Equivaton casually shook his leg and threw the human off.

Shouting wordlessly in frustration, Kynigós drove an angered fist into the dragon's claw.

"I barely felt that," the dragon snorted. "Punch from the hip and focus on channelling your inner strength,"

Growing, Kynigós punched him again, following his advice.

"Better," the Earth Dragon exhaled, glaring down at the little human.

"Why the hell are you telling me how to hurt you?" the blond questioned.

"Because this is a dangerous world. It would be inconvenient for me if your hot-headedness got you killed. I'm hardly equipped to take care of a hatchling myself," Equivaton retorted, shaking his head. "So I might as well teach you a thing or two about fighting. Dragon style. And if you do somehow end up strong enough to kill me, then I'll have done a good job," he commented, turning his head away so that the hunter wouldn't see his smile.

"You're an idiot," Kynigós huffed. He paused, noticing that the little white dragon with her three horns had crawled out of the hole and was nosing at him. Suppressing a smile, he scratched between her horns again, sending her into gurgles of pleasure

"If that's what it takes," Equivaton mumbled.

There was a moment of silence as everyone ate.

It was midway through a mouthful of rabbit that it came to him. "Alright, I've got it," he declared as soon as he had swallowed.

"Got what?" Equivaton asked after swallowing the last of the deer.

"A name for the kid," Kynigós declared, looking at the albino dragonet.

"What is it?"

"Zena," Kynigós declared.

Equivaton mulled it over. "Not bad, not bad," he admitted. "May I ask why?"

"Because," Kynigós paused, the words catching on his threat. Scenes of murder, of death and destruction played over in his mind, reminding him of what had happened to everyone else he cared about. Because she was his Z, she was the end of his tenure. She was the last person he'd ever allow himself to care about. And if he lost her like he'd lost everyone else, then that would be it. He'd never let anyone else into his heart again.

"Just because," he huffed, looking at the setting sun on the horizon. He reached into his pack and pulled out a sleeping mat, unrolling it and dragging it into Zena's nest. "Goodnight, you big lizard!" he shouted.

"Goodnight, fleshbag," Equivaton rumbled from outside.

Kynigós pulled off his coat and folded it over to use as a pillow, pulled his coat off to use as a blanket, before unstrapping his metal arm and laying it down nearby.

And then, with a thump, a very physically affectionate dragonet clambered in beside him and Pierce felt her soft snout nuzzling at the back of his neck. "Goodnight, Zena," he muttered, and the newborn gurgled cheerfully in response, closing her grey eyes.

{Apo-C}

The hunter woke with the sunrise, as was customary for him. Zena, though, did not, and he had to carefully slip out of the child's claws, before strapping on his metal arm and khaki coat and exiting the little hut.

"You done sleeping in?" Equivaton rumbled.

In response, Kynigós unslung his gun and shot him. As before, the bullet lodged in Equivaton's scales and barely dented them. "Good morning to you too," the hunter brushed him off.

"Do you plan to try to kill me first thing every morning?" the Earth Dragon questioned, lowering his massive head and fixing beady red eyes on him.

"Well, I hadn't, but now that you mention it, that does sound like a good habit to get into," the hunter mused.

Equivaton groaned, before looking down and blinking. "What are you doing?"

"Morning exercise," the hunter retorted between push-ups.

"Oh?" Equivaton raised an eyebrow. "Breathe in the following sequence. In, out, out, in, out, in, in, out. Then repeat,"

"Why the hell should I?" Kynigós demanded, progressing to sit-ups.

"It's a dragon breathing exercise. Just do it," the Earth Dragon commanded.

Kynigós huffed, but nodded, and followed the instruction.

"Good," Equivaton nodded. "Now, go find something to eat. Zena will be hungry when she wakes and I can't hunt with my wing like this,"

"Don't you need to eat?" Kynigós questioned.

"Of course I do. But I mostly consume ethernano and earth," Equivaton declared, turning and gripping a boulder on the side of the river in his jaws, before grinding it to pieces with his teeth and swallowing it.

"As fascinating as the ability to metabolise rock is, I think I'll settle for meat," Kynigós declared, shouldering his rifle and sauntering into the forest.

"Happy hunting," the dragon rumbled.

{Apo-C}

An hour later, dragons had been fed, hunters returned, and small beings loaded onto Equivaton's back.

"So, we're not staying," Kynigós plainly stated.

"Food and water is one thing, but we still need information. And for that, we need other _people_ ," Equivaton stressed the word. "Hold on," With that, he took off across the countryside, amidst shrieks of joy from Zena.

{Apo-C}

The first thing Equivaton knew of the newcomer was a rattling, crashing noise that echoed through the countryside.

"What was that?" Kynigós asked, looking around.

"I don't know. I've never heard anything like it," the Earth Dragon frowned. "It came from that direction," he realised, gesturing to their ten o'clock. Kynigós spotted a grove of trees, which he identified as the source. "Well, let's go look!" he encouraged,

"I smell human," Equivaton muttered as he advanced on the enclave.

"Good. Finally, some civilisation," Kynigós muttered as Equivaton peered into the trees. Leaving Zena in the hollow between his wings, he scrambled up the dragon's neck and climbed between his horns, hoping to look for himself.

Taking shelter between the trees, looking tiny beneath Equivaton's gaze, was a human girl with long hair tied back in a ponytail, such a dark shade of green it was almost black, with metal goggles strapped over her forehead, wearing faded green overalls and wielding what looked like a massive spanner, with an equally impressive gun strapped to her back.. She was standing behind some kind of monstrous metal contraption, a sleek-looking framework mounted on two large wheels with thick tyres. "Well? If you're gonna eat me, go ahead and get it over with!" she barked.

Equivaton arced an eyebrow, but Kynigós chuckled. Whoever this girl was, he liked her already. "Stand down, big guy. I'll handle this," he shouted in the general direction of Equivaton's ear, before jumping off his head. The dragon almost went cross-eyed following his fall past the bridge of his snout as Kynigós fell past his face and landed in a crouch in the clearing, metres away from the stranger.

"And who the hell are you?" she questioned, hefting her wrench in a threatening manner. Now that he got a closer look at her, he realised she was younger than he'd expected. Eleven, twelve maybe.

"Name's Deadeye Pierce Kynigós. The big lug up there is Equivaton, the Earth Dragon," the hunter introduced himself. "And since you're the first human I've seen since I got here, I've got a few questions. First off, what year is it?"

The stranger was surprised. "The year? It's X797," she replied.

The words ran through Kynigós' mind. _X-seven-hundred-and-ninety-seven . ._ "Crap!" he cursed, stomping his foot in irritation. "Damnit, Equivaton! That fucking Sempiternal piece of crap sent us thirteen years into the future!"

"Forget thirteen. Between that weird gate thing and the floating island, I've ended up more than _four hundred_ years out of time!" Equivaton roared in response.

"Whoa, whoa, wait. What are you talking about?" the girl questioned, putting her hands on her hips.

Kynigós decided to leave out the part about Edolas and briefly summarised; "Short version? Both me and him were thrown outside time by some weird magic. Him in what I can only assume was X390, and me in X784. We met in some place 'outside time'," he finger-quoted, "and managed to force our way back into time, and ended up yesterday. You're the first human we've seen,"

The girl was nonplussed. "Time travel? Considering all the things I've seen, I'll buy that," she nodded. "So if you're from X784, I take it you don't know what happened in X791," she surmised.

"Nope,"

"Right," she sighed. "Six years ago, at the X791 Grand Magic Games, there was some kind of disaster. No one really knows what happened, because everyone who directly witnessed it was killed in the fallout. We call it the Dragon King Festival," she shrugged. "Whatever the case, whatever happened, ten thousand dragons came out of nowhere in the middle of Crocus. They swarmed the city, killing everyone they found. I was there," A shiver ran through her body as she spoke. "I was there with my family to see the Games . . Me and my mother barely escaped, and my father was killed,"

"Oh," Kynigós' expression softened, and he reached forward to rest a hand on her shoulder - only for it to be slapped away. "Shut up! I don't need your pity!" the girl snapped. "Anyway, they covered the planet in days. Earth Land is a dragon's playground now. Us humans are stuck hiding, scavenging, doing whatever we have to to stay alive," she sighed, gritting her teeth.

"Shit," Kynigós murmured. "Do people fight back?"

"Sure, when we can. We even have a few dragons on side - ones who are sympathetic to us. So that's something," she shrugged.

"And that thing?" Kynigós indicated the metal contraption.

The girl seemed surprised that he was paying it attention. "My motorbike? It's just a pile of scrap I cobbled together. When you can't fight dragons, you can outrun them," she grinned.

"Truer words, never spoken," Kynigós agreed.

"Would you like to come with me back to our hideout?" the biker suggested. "Your big friend can come too,"

Kynigós raised an eyebrow. He'd been alone for a long time . . being part of a community again might be tolerable . . He looked up at Equivaton, raising a questioning eyebrow.

"Sounds fine to me," he shrugged.

"Alright. We'll come with you," he accepted.

"Great," the coverall wearer nodded. "I need to patch up my bike, though. So that might take a little while,"

"Forget that," Equivaton snorted, extending a massive paw. The girl screamed, but couldn't react as the dragon picked up both humans and the bike in one hand, before dropping them on his back. Zena squealed excitedly, peering at the newcomer with interest.

"What is that and why is it so interested in my bike?" The girl demanded.

Kynigós gritted his teeth, not liking the tone she was taking. "That is Zena. She's a dragon hatchling I rescued from the destroyed nest of her dead mother shortly after arrival. And I won't have you calling her an 'it'," he growled.

"Okay, okay. Touchy," the girl snorted.

Kynigós pulled Zena's inquisitive snout away from the bike. "No, Zena, that's not for you," he admonished her. "Now, say hello to . . I just realised I never got your name," he blinked, raising an eyebrow at the biker.

Sitting next to her bike, and making sure it wasn't liable to fall off Equivaton's back, the oily-haired girl shrugged. "Asuka. Connell,"

A/N

 **A/N**

 **Yay, the Edolas version of Grace has appeared!**

 **Except she's not from Edolas, isn't named Grace, looks nothing like her, has a different element, and isn't even the same species . . . nevermind.**

 **Anyway. She also gets a name, now! Incidentally, Zena is derived from 'Zeta', the sixth letter of the Greek alphabet. This was chosen because Zena is the sixth character in the Phoenix's Eye canon who's either become a Dragon Slayer or is a dragon. Think about that for a second. Maybe count off. You might realise something.**

 **And another minor note; Equivaton's 'breathing exercise' is actually a ninja technique that I learnt about via the Young Samurai book series. It's called Dragon Breathing. XD**

 **Also, we have a new character. We've seen the future version of Lucy and Rogue in canon, well, this is the future version of Asuka. She'll certainly be interesting to write for, especially when it comes to . . um, wait . . [SPOILERS].**

 **War.**


	3. What On Earth Is This Place?

dLog #3: What On Earth Is This Place?

Alright. I'm just getting used to the idea that I've somehow ended up as the older brother to a baby dragon, _but_ this big lizard who I just can't get rid of (yet) insists that we keep moving, which is just dandy.

I mean, there's a degree of logic there, but . . ugh, whatever. I've never needed to justify myself to you, journal, and I won't start now.

Anyway. So we ran into this little girl with a big gun and a fast bike. Well, I've never seen it go, but she assures me that it's fast. It's all she can talk about, actually. How good she is with her gun and her bike. It's kinda hot, actually, but she's a kid. And I'm . . oh, whatever. You know why I'm not up for a relationship, journal.

And now this Asuka kid is asking me why it is that I'm talking to my journal. Well, if she had any idea the sort of shit I've been through in the last four months, she'd talk to her journal too. Actually, she'd probably talk to her gun. Or her bike. And I'm not even talking to you anyway, I'm just writing my feelings down and it helps to have someone to address. You know what I'm talking about, right?

This girl is a jerk. And I'm sorely tempted to shove her precious bike off Equivaton's back and let it smash on the ground and get left behind. And it would serve her right, too.

{Apo-C}

"If you pull a stunt like that, then I'll do the same with that winged rat of yours," Asuka threatened, gesturing at Zena, who perked up st the attention, ignorant of the threat to her person.

Pierce blinked, and his jaw set. In a flash, his gun was out and aimed at Asuka's head. "If you threaten her again, so help me I will blow your brains out and use them to decorate my mantelpiece,"

In a flash, her own rifle mirrored his. "Just try it," the girl growled, locking eyes with him.

For a moment, the stand-off held.

Eventually, Kynigós huffed and resettled, placing himself between Asuka and Zena. "You're not worth the bullet," he snorted dismissively at her.

The gunslinger blinked in confusion. "Not worth the - that's an infinite magic bullet generator strapped to your gun!" she spluttered.

"Exactly," Kynigós blew her off.

Asuka rolled her eyes. "If you didn't have this big lug on your side, I would take the shot," she assured him, sheathing her gun and casting an annoyed glare at Equivaton's head behind her.

{Apo-C}

Under Asuka's guidance, Equivaton eventually came to the ruins of a town nestled within a horseshoe-shaped mountain range. "Here?" he asked, and Asuka nodded. "This is the place!" she confirmed.

"What is this place?" Kynigós questioned as Equivaton let them down. They had established that, since the survivors would no doubt be on edge at the fight of a dragon encroaching on their land, Equivaton would hang back and look after Zena while Kynigós and Asuka entered and made the survivors aware of the situation.

"The last place that wild dragons would ever think to look. Who would expect to find humans in a place that was already ruined when they got here?" Asuka asked rhetorically, pausing at the crumbling remains of a gate. "Pierce Kynigós, welcome to Ghoulia,"

"Nice place," Kynigós offered, looking around at the ruins.

"In X778, there was some kinda dark magic catastrophe. The town was destroyed and everyone in it was killed. So when the dragons came, they didn't take any interest in a town that had already been destroyed when there were so many towns that were intact. So some clever clogs started digging. There was already a mine network under the town, it was just a matter of extending it," Asuka shrugged. "My mum and I got brought here about four years ago. I've been helping out, scavenging, finding other survivors, ever since,"

Kynigós cocked an eyebrow, noting the singular pronoun in the last sentence. "You have?" he questioned.

Asuka avoided his gaze, suddenly looking downcast. "When the dragons came, and daddy died . . something broke in my mum. She used to be really cool and tough, but now . . well . . you'll see," she sighed. "Anyway. Here we are," she declared, stopping at the doorway to a mostly-intact ruin. Pierce followed her as she wheeled her bike through the door, and was surprised to see that there was a massive hole in the ground, slanting downwards. Asuka promptly continued wheeling her bike into the cave, and, after a moment's hesitation, Kynigós followed.

Soon, they came to who Kynigós could only assume to be a guard. "Asuka. Good to see you. There's a dragon outside town, and it's got everyone riled up . . who's this?" he questioned, looking at Kynigós.

"A survivor I found. The dragon outside is his friend, so we need to talk to the council," Asuka summarised.

The guard blinked. "Yes . . you do," he nodded. "I'll take you. Both of you," The three immediately set off down the corridor.

As they walked, they passed several people and several turn-offs. Kynigós saw all manner of castaways; elderly men, young women, children. All dressed in ragged clothes and some nursing crippling injuries. The hunter cast a glance at his own weary hunting gear and prosthetic arm. At least he'd fit in around here.

Eventually, the two reached a chamber in the mine network with a door at the second entrance; a rarity, Kynigós had noted. "Wait here," the guard cautioned them, before swinging the door open and peering inside. "Ahem, your lordships? Asuka Connell and a stranger are here. They say they know about the dragon outside town,"

"Send them in!" a voice which Kynigós found somewhat familiar declared, and the guard opened the door wider, and beckoned. Asuka strode forwards, and, after checking that his appearance as was in order, he followed.

Seated in scrappy chairs at plastic folding tables, were five people, three of which he didn't recognise. The fourth looked familiar, though he couldn't immediately place it. But, at the head of the table, was a face he'd never forget. Even though he knew it wasn't the one he remembered.

Emanuel Arestrad, known to his friends as 'Boomer', stared, slack-jawed, at the newcomer. "Pierce?"

"Kynigós," the hunter corrected him.

Boomer looked older. Wearier. His once-spiky black hair had been buzz-cut, and he was dressed in similar ragged clothes to everyone else Kynigós had seen. The boombox that Kynigós recalled this world's version of his old friend carrying around was nowhere to be seen. "Oh," he sighed, slumping in his seat and massaging his temples as he noticed the metal arm. "Right. That fiasco with the Sempiternal Phoenix, a few years back. You and the dragon got thrown into the future. I guess you just arrived, huh?"

"Yesterday," Kynigós confirmed.

"Wait, you mean his bullshit story was true?" Asuka questioned, incredulously. No one took any notice of her.

"Friend of yours, I take it?" a tall, strapping man with spiky hair, wearing battered armour, raised his eyebrows expectantly. "Yes, Arcadios. I only met him a couple of times, but he's dependable," Boomer confirmed.

"No way," a woman, also seated at the table, with a blond ponytail and half-moon spectacles, gasped. "You're dead. I saw you die,"

"He's a version of Pierce from the alternate universe of Edolas, Penny darling," Boomer informed the woman. "Remember that thing with the time travel?"

"Don't remind me," Penny Prince, former reporter of Sorcerer Weekly, back when there was a Sorcerer Weekly, sulked.

"He was there too, but he got thrown further into the future than the rest of us," Boomer fixed weary eyes on Kynigós. "Well, welcome to the apocalypse," he half-heartedly commented.

Kynigós was fixed on something that Penny had mentioned. "Dead? The other me . . died?"

Boomer looked downcast. "Yeah. Three years ago,"

"How?" the hunter demanded. The other version of himself had been strong, and powerful. He'd only known him briefly, but he couldn't imagine him just dying.

"We were set up," the Sound wizard growled. "A troublesome group of dragons contacted us, said they wanted to negotiate an alliance. Pierce . . he and Grace never liked that the dragons were our enemies. They were soft that way. He was all too eager to befriend them, and Grace followed him around like a puppy . . they never saw the betrayal coming,"

"Oh," Kynigós nodded. Now that sounded like something his double would do.

"Doesn't matter, that's in the past now. I'm glad that you're alive," Boomer smiled at Kynigós, who shrugged. "Wasn't a big deal. I just had to blow a dragon's eye out. That said, don't any of you lot lay a finger on the big lizard out there. When the time comes, his head is mine,"

"That won't be a popular sentiment. A lot of the people here are distrustful of dragons. They won't like having one around," Boomer pointed out.

"Who says I'm staying here?" Kynigós challenged.

This question was met by a moment of silence.

"Well, um," Boomer started.

"Wouldn't you want to be with other humans?" Penny questioned.

The hunter shrugged. "I'd choose Equivaton and Zena over the lot of you, to be honest," More Zena than Equivaton, but they didn't need to know that.

No one seemed to know what to say to this. Kynigós repressed the urge to snort in amusement. This was fun.

"Well, I'm sure that we can make an exception," Boomer finally managed. "I'll spread the word to everyone about . . this situation," he finished. "In the meantime, how about you bunk with Asuka? As a temporary arrangement, until we can find proper accomodations," he suggested.

"What?" Asuka gasped, but Kynigós grinned. This would be even more fun than he'd thought. "That's fine with me. Come on, roomie, let's go home," he grinned at Asuka. The eleven-year-old gazed at him like a deer in headlights, before glancing back to the council. None of them looked willing to move an inch on this, and she sighed, turning around. "Fine. But don't upset my mother, alright?"

"Sure," Kynigós shrugged as they left.

Once the door had swung closed, the five exchanged glances.

"This is going to cause trouble," one of them remarked.

"I concur," Boomer nodded. "But, even though I only met Kynigós briefly, he's a version of Pierce, and at heart, he's a good person, and a skilled fighter. He's also a hunter; which means he can help us get food. We can't afford to lose him,"

"I miss Pierce. Our Pierce, not this weirdo hunter version. He'd know what to do," Penny lamented.

"So do I," Boomer nodded. "But he's gone, and we can't afford to spend too much time thinking about the past,"

"What about this dragon? Are we really going to let it . . live here?" another councilman asked.

Boomer raised an eyebrow at him, before shrugging. "Do we have any choice? It's a dragon. There's a reason we've never been able to kill even one before,"

"They could," Penny wistfully sighed.

A smile tugged at Boomer's lips. "The Dragon Slayers? Yeah. But you know that isn't an option. Natsu, Gajeel and Cobra all died in Crocus six years ago, and Wendy's been missing ever since. No one's heard from Sting or Rogue since the incident with Gray Fullbuster, and we lost Grace at the fake treaty. And then the Thunder Legion died last year . . even Laxus wasn't enough," he bemoaned. "If only we had more Dragon Slayers,"

"If only," the others chorused.

{Apo-C}

"Here we are," Asuka offered, pausing at a curtain that covered a doorway on a side passage.

"Cool," Kynigós nodded, ducking under the hanging fabric and shoving his way into the candlelit room - to Asuka's surprise. "No, wait! I have to -"

But Kynigós was already inside, looking around. It was a single room, lit by a couple of candles, and with hollows carved into the walls to act as desks, shelves or sleeping spaces.

It was in one of these that a dark figure with flowing green hair was seated. The two looked at each other, equally inquisitive. The stranger spoke first. "Honey? Is that you? Have you finally come home?"

Kynigós blinked. "Um . . pardon?"

The woman, her face hidden by a hat, stood and took slow, shaky steps towards him. "Don't joke around, Alzack dear. I've missed you for so long, please don't hold out on me," she requested, holding out her arms to embrace him.

The hunter took an uncomfortable step backwards. "Look, lady. I don't know who you think I am, but I'm the best hunter in Edolas, Pier - agh!"

"Oh, yes you are," the woman murmured in what Kynigós could only assume was supposed to be a sultry tone, suddenly lunging forwards and snatching his arm. "You're the absolute best with that gun of yours," she whispered, releasing him with one arm and letting it trail down the hem of his jacket towards his crotch. Kynigós gulped.

"Okay, mum, that's enough!" Asuka was suddenly there, turning her demented mother around and leading her back to the bed. "Go outside and wait until I call you," she hissed at Kynigós, who nodded, ducking back out of the room while the woman was distracted with her daughter, crooning, "Oh there you are, Asuka darling. Did you see? Your father's finally come home to us,"

"Mum, you're dreaming," Asuka flatly shot her down, helping her back in bed. "Just lie down and close your eyes for a minute, so that you can wake up,"

"Okay, darling, if it'll make you happy," she groaned, lying down.

"Alright, mum, I'm bringing a friend over today. His name is Kynigós, and he's going to stay here for a while, so behave," Asuka told her after a moment.

"A friend? Oh, how adorable," she murmured. "I hope that the two of you get along nicely," her mother weakly chuckled, "just like me and my little pistol,"

"It's not like that, mum!" Asuka protested. "Come in, now," she called, and as Kynigós stepped through the door, the girl cast him an irritated glance. He shrugged in response, conveying with his body language that she should have warned him that her mother was crazy.

"Kynigós, this is Bisca Connell. My mother," the girl sighed.

"You know, he looks just like your father," Bisca commented before Kynigos could get a word in.

Asuka cocked an eyebrow, comparing a mental image of her father, with his black hair, tanned skin, narrow eyes and pointed chin, with Kynigós, blond, pale, square-jawed, thick eyebrows and straight hair. "Sure he does," she sarcastically commented.

Kynigós blinked, and in that moment he knew he really didn't want to share a room with this crazy lady. "Okay, well, this has been fun, really, but I should be going, like, now," he declared. "Gotta go check on the dragons and all!" the hunter added, dashing away.

Asuka shot a pitiful glance at her mother, before nodding. "Wait, I'll come with you!" she declared, leaving her mother as she ducked under the curtain and pursued the boy.

"Oh, young love. It's so sweet," Bisca crooned, before glancing at a torn and dirtied photograph of her late husband, pinned to a wall. "Remember when we were like that, darling?"

{Apo-C}

Upon exiting the tunnel network via a different entrance that Asuka had led him to, Kynigós immediately located the two dragons. Since it was this or her deranged mother, Asuka followed him.

"So, how did meeting the humans go?" Equivaton rumbled as they approached. As had become custom, Kynigos unslung his rifle and shot the dragon, who paid no heed. "I see your little friend won't leave us alone,"

"Considering how things are in there, I suddenly don't mind her being here," Kynigós retorted as Equivaton carefully let Zena down. The little dragon excitedly squealed at the return of her 'big brother', and, chuckling, Kynigós rubbed between her horns, sending the little dragon into gurgles of pleasure.

Asuka watched in disgusted fascination as Equivaton crunched on a boulder, shattering it to pieces, before swallowing. "How can you eat rocks?" she questioned.

"How can you eat plants?" the dragon huffily responded.

"Dragons can't digest plants?" Kynigós asked, surprised.

"Some can. Not me," the Earth Dragon retorted. "But I assure you there's plenty of iron ore in my diet," he added, before breaking down into snickers.

"Very funny," the hunter snorted.

"You're right. Enough laughing. It's time to train," Equivaton declared, picking himself up. The massive dragon towered over the two humans and the hatchling, and glared down at Kynigós. "Alright, fleshbag. Run once around the mountains outside town and back here. Remember the breathing technique,"

Kynigós blinked. "And why the hell should I?" he demanded.

"To get stronger. You want to kill me, don't you? You'll never manage that if you don't get tougher," Equivaton snorted.

The hunter considered this. "Fine," he declared, wheeling and setting off.

"Hold on. Are you seriously going to go for a run with that heavy backpack?" Asuka questioned, gesturing to the hunter's pack.

"Of course. I never lose this pack," Kynigós snorted. "Back in a jiff,"

As he left, Asuka raised an eyebrow at Equivaton. "I don't get you," she frowned up at the mighty dragon.

He lowered his head in a somewhat futile attempt to put himself on her level. "Why not?"

"Why are you here? Why do you care?" Asuka questioned, putting her hands on her hips. "Why not just go off and be with your own kind?"

"You think I care about you? Well, someone has a high opinion of themselves," Equivaton snorted.

"I'm not talking about myself. I mean Kynigós," the gunner snapped in response, gesturing at the distant form of Kynigós. "You care about him. Why?"

The dragon paused, considering her question. Why was he going to so much trouble for one little fleshbag? After all, if his dream were fulfilled, he would die. And he hardly viewed his own life as something to recklessly throw away.

He thought back to Kixezen, and her final request. 'Take good care of him. Teach him. Let him grow,'

"It's because he's a seed in barren soil," the dragon settled on. "And I've been entrusted with ensuring he can grow,"

Asuka cocked an eyebrow, before huffing. "Gee. Could you be more enigmatic?"

A/N

 **A/N**

 **Welcome back to Ghoulia, people! But things have changed since the Sonic Boom arc, hmm?**

 **War.**


	4. How Do I Get Into These Messes?

Log #4: How Do I Get Into These Messes?

Well, it seems things are actually going well for once. That girl I was writing about in my last entry? Asuka Connell? She brought me to this place called Ghoulia, full of human survivors.

Big whoop. I'm not sure I like this lot, honestly. For one thing, her mother is totally deranged. I'm supposed to be living in the same room as the two of them, but . . . you try sleeping in the same room as that old bat. Plus, I get the feeling that trying to bring Zena into the caves would be a recipe for disaster. So I'm sleeping out under the stars. Not the first time, won't be the last. And last night wasn't so bad, anyway.

In other news, I still can't get these dragon blood stains out of my coat. According to the big lizard, I also still smell more like a dragon than a human, and I'm starting to see what he means. I seriously reek . . where's a freaking stick of deodorant when you need one?

I found this world's future's version of my old friend Boomer, too. (The sentences I never thought I'd say, eh?) Apparently he's a big shot nowadays, if only because everyone who was bigger than him is dead.

I heard he's calling some kind of meeting with all the survivors to explain why Equivaton's here soon. Of course, it'll be underground, so Equivaton won't get to be there to defend himself. (Some _Earth Dragon_.)

Luckily, that's what I'm here for.

{Apo-C}

"Everyone, shush!" Boomer roared, immediately quieting the crowd.

Kynigós had watched in faint amusement as every inhabitant of the warren under Ghoulia piled into the single largest hall they had managed to excavate. He, of course, was watching from the edge of the 'stage' - a raised protrusion along one side of the hall.

Boomer stood, with the remainder of the council flanking him at a distance, at the centre of the stage, where a wooden podium had been erected. "Shut up!" he added for emphasis.

Kynigós could have heard a pin drop.

"Now, everyone is, of course, aware that there is an unknown dragon just outside town, and he has shown no signs of leaving. I am aware that there have also been rumours circulating that there is a newcomer here who is friends with this dragon. This is true," he immediately began. "Shush; let me finish!" he added, seeing the malcontent in the people around him.

"You all know that we are not equipped to drive off a dragon. So before anyone even thinks about suggesting it, we cannot get rid of him by force!" Boomer led.

"Well, we can't just let it stay!" someone in the crowd shouted.

"We have no choice!" the man shouted in response to this. "I don't like this any more than any of you do. But the fact remains that this dragon has been in no way hostile to any of us. We are at an impasse here, and what are our options? You want to attack him? Scare him off? I can understand that. But there's no possible way that doing so would result in actually killing him. From there, either he attacks and kills all of us himself, or he goes and gets a couple of friends to help him do the same!" Boomer laid down the impossible situation before his people. "Do you understand me? For the time being, we have no choice but to depend on his goodwill and wait for our ally to return!"

The crowd grumbled, but didn't object.

"So, who's this human friend of the dragon's?" someone questioned.

Boomer blinked. His eyes quickly darted to the corner where Kynigós was standing, and he rapidly weighed his options. He knew that putting the hunter before the crowd would paint a target on his back. But how could he answer this challenge without bringing the boy into it?

"That would be me!" The wizard blinked as Kynigós stepped forwards, reaching the podium and all but shoving him out of the way. And he certainly looked the part. With his ragged khaki jacket, muddied and stained pack, and patched trousers, all complemented by a bandoleer and belt full of hunter's gear and most of it bearing dried, faded stains of dragon blood. The most striking feature, however, was the dull, dirty glint of his prosthetic left arm, something that everyone in the crowd took immediate notice of. And then they saw the gritted, steely look in his dark brown eyes. They were eyes that spoke to horrors witnessed, hardships endured, friends lost and suffering overcome.

This man, the crowd realised, was the living picture of how they all felt. Of what the dragons had done to them. And yet he, apparently, was friends with one.

"The name is Kynigós," he declared, and the word echoed through the room.

The hunter cast an unimpressed eye around the room. "I'm not one for long speeches," he decredlared, his nose wrinkling. "I'm not some big-nosed big shot who's here to tell you all what to do. So don't expect that sort of crap from me!"

Several people in the crowd nodded assent at this, and a smile tugged at the hunter's lips. He restrained it, though. "I've got no shits left to give. I'm just a man, doing whatever I need to to survive. If that means partnering with a dragon, so be it. If that means staying or leaving this place, either way's fine by me! So do what you want, and as long as no one here gets me killed, it's not my problem,"

A lot of the crowd was murmuring affirmation. They could tell that Kynigós had the right idea.

Boomer, though, wasn't very amused. "Ahem, Kynigós?" he hissed from stage right, and the boy cocked an eyebrow at him. "We are a _community_ here, and we all band _together_ to survive," he prodded.

"Oh yeah," the hunter nodded, shrugging. "Teamwork and shit's good too!" he shouted.

Boomer cradled his face in his hands, dismayed.

The crowd waited with bated breath for Kynigós to continue, but the hunter merely cocked an eyebrow. After a moment, he cocked his head and questioned, "What? That's it. I'm done," he declared, wheeling on his feet and stalking off the dais.

{Apo-C}

"Kynigós?" The hunter in question paused, and turned to see one of the men from the Council approaching him. His tall, spiky hair brushed against the ceiling as he extended an armoured hand. "My name is Arcadios. It's an honour,"

"Sure, whatever," Kynigós shrugged, turning and continuing to walk.

Arcadios blinked, and continued to walk to catch up with him. "The community's taken quite a shine to you," he commented.

"Yeah? I hadn't noticed," the boy shrugged. "I told you, I've got no shits left to give,"

"Well, speaking as a 'big-nosed big shot', I consider it my duty to keep everyone here alive and safe. And you've proven, with that speech, that the influence you can hold over people can do wonders," the warrior explained.

Kynigós tilted his head thoughtfully for a second, then shrugged and kept walking.

"People like this, in desperate situations, can't be relied on to keep themselves safe, they need a leader, someone who knows what he's doing, who can protect them all," Arcadios continued.

"Okay. Well, I wish you the best of luck with that. Bye now," the hunter snorted in the most dismissive tone he could muster.

"I meant _you_ ," the man clarified.

Kynigós stopped dead.

"People can only take so much under the command of one leader. Eventually there'll be whispers, dissent. We need to -" Arcadios started, but was interrupted as Kynigós wheeled and glared at him. "Were you not listening to me up on that podium? Eh? I told you. I'm no leader. I just went up there and told them that I wasn't here to tell them what to do. So if I turn around and start shouting orders, I'll look like a bloody hypocrite. Besides, I don't go in for that sort of crap. If they can't survive, they deserve to die," With that, Kynigós wheeled and stalked away, growling under his breath.

"That may be so, but answer me this, hunter. What's more important, your dignity or people's lives?" Arcadios questioned.

"Maybe you should consider that people's lives are important to themselves too," Kynigós retorted.

{Apo-C}

"Well, he seemed cool," the guard, the same one who had let Kynigós and Asuka enter Ghoulia and led them to the Council, offered to a friend as the meeting ended.

"Yeah. I'm not sold on the thing about partnering with dragons, but that guy up there made a lot of sense," his friend replied, nodding. "But one thing still bothers me. How did he and that dragon find this place to begin with?"

"Oh, I can tell you that," the guard snorted. "You know the kid? Asuka Connell?"

"The jumped-up brat with the loony bin mother? Sure,"

"She found them and brought them back here while she was out on a scouting run. I saw her bringing him inside," the first explained.

"Hold on, hold on," a third man, who had been listening in, blinked, interjecting himself into the conversation. "Are you telling me that it's that brat's fault that the dragon knows where we are?"

The guardsman blinked, and nodded. "Hey. Now that you mention it, I guess it is," he frowned, anger creeping into his voice.

{Apo-C}

Kynigós emerged from the cave system in the centre of Ghoulia, feeling a desperate need to go for a walk under the sunlight. All those caves and tunnels . . it just wasn't right.

As he reached a corner where he had to turn, there was an odd, popping noise, and the hunter frowned as he continued walking. What was that?

And then he drew up short, seeing Boomer standing before him. "Figures," the Sound Wizard grumbled as he turned on the spot and stopped dead, seeing Kynigós.

"Boomer? What - but I just saw you downstairs," the hunter spluttered, cocking his head in confusion. "And hey, why do you look so young?" he frowned.

"Edo-Pierce? Why are you in Ghoulia?" Boomer frowned.

The infuriating nickname brought him back, and Kynigos suddenly made the connection. "Wait - you're still on the Sempiternal Phoenix, aren't you?" he questioned, disregarding the nickname for the time being.

"Yeah . . aren't you?" Boomer blinked.

Kynigos' eyes went wide, and he immediately realised the opportunity he had here. He could prevent his counterpart's death - warn them about the dragons. "Not important. But listen; I need you to pass on an urgent message to Blastreyne,"

"Okay, shoot," the Phoenix nodded, and Kynigós grinned. "Tell him, no matter what, or how he feels about it, he absolutely must not -"

There was a 'pop', and Boomer vanished.

". . . go meet the dragons for a peace treaty," the hunter lamely finished. "Damnit. Because why would it be that easy?" he scoffed, kicking at a stray rock.

Huffing, the hunter continued on his way, doing his best to put the experience out of his mind.

{Apo-C}

"How was the meeting?" Equivaton rumbled as Kynigós rejoined him and Zena, who squeaked in excitement, seeing her 'older brother'.

Before saying anything, the boy pulled out his gun and shot the dragon. With his greeting ritual over, he allowed himself to engage in the conversation. "Boring," Kynigós shrugged. "I've half a mind to go out hunting,"

"Then go. I shan't stop you," Equivaton determined.

In the distance, the noise of a motor was heard.

"As if you could," Kynigós huffed. "Just so you know, you big lizard, this doesn't change anything! I'm still going to kill you!" he hollered, striding away.

"Why would it? You've made your plans very clear," Equivaton retorted, standing up. "I suppose I should do some exercise too," he reflected, casting an annoyed glare at his injured wing.

The dragon paused, spotting a small black speck approaching. "Oh, it's you," he rumbled, balefully eyeing Asuka as she pulled up on her motorbike, stopping near his feet.

"Is that Kynigós? Where's he going?" the young girl asked, spotting the distant form of the hunter.

"Hunting, apparently," Equivaton shrugged.

"Do you think he'd mind if I tagged along?" the gunslinger asked, and the massive dragon tipped his head in a small shrug. "How should I know? I only met him last week,"

"Well, couldn't hurt," Asuka decided, gunning her scrappy machine's engine and speeding across the barren earth to catch up with the teenager.

As she drew level with him, Kynigós cast her an irritated look. "What do you want?"

"To join you," she evenly retorted.

"What, hunting? Do you even know how to be stealthy?" he huffed.

"I do so," the girl snorted.

In response, the hunter tapped the noisy bike, and Asuka snorted. "Well, obviously I'm not bringing it into the forest or wherever,"

Kynigós rolled his eyes, but sighed. "Alright, fine, you can come. If you give me a lift," he declared, and Asuka grinned. "Now you're talking," she declared as Kynigós climbed on, and she shot off, rapidly accelerating. Kynigós strangled a panicked scream in his mouth, refusing to give Asuka the satisfaction, and gripped the seat of the bike, refusing to either fall off or cling to the tween.

"You!" the hunter shouted, his voice leaving them behind, dragged away by the slipstream. "Are a pain in the ass!"

{Apo-C}

The motorbike drew to a halt on the edge of a forest a few clicks away from Ghoulia. Asuka dismounted, before looking into her pocket and pulling out a little white piece of paper, before opening a small locker in the bike and checking to make sure that a similar, but smaller, slip of paper was still there.

"What are those?" Kynigós questioned, only mildly interested.

"It's a Vivre Card. It's a kind of magic paper made out of a person's, in this case my, fingernails," Asuka explained. "Originally, these two were one card. But if you tear a Vivre Card into pieces, the pieces will naturally try to reconnect with each other. See?" she opened her palms, letting the paper rest in it, and Kynigós watched in amusement as the part she had slowly shifted, inching towards her bike, where the other part was shifting similarly against the wall of the little drawer that contained it. "As long as I've got it, I can always find my bike," she declared, wheeling the machine into the undergrowth amongst the trees and picking up several discarded branches and leaves to camoflauge it. Within minutes, between the machine's khaki paintjob and the disguise applied to it, even Kynigós' trained eye had difficulty picking out the metal framework. "That's impressive," he admitted.

"See, I know what I'm doing," the younger girl smirked, and Kynigós snorted, rolling his eyes. "I'm not convinced yet. Come on, we've got animals to hunt,"

With that, he slid, silently, into the foliage, letting his camouflage colours hide him from sight. Huffing, Asuka reached to her forehead and strapped her goggles over her face, before following him with almost as much stealth.

Kynigós slid through the forest like a shadow. His companion had thought that she was good at moving silently, but she quickly realised that the hunter made her look like a novice. It was as though he could merge with trees and become one with shrubbery, passing like a wraith and leaving barely a trace of his presence.

And then, after he had disappeared behind a tree, Asuka heard a muffled gunshot ring out. Surprised, she slid around the circumference of the trunk and discovered his gun protruding from the canopy above her. And before her, killed in an instant, was a plump-looking rabbit.

"Impressive," she admitted as Kynigós dropped out of the tree and scooped up the corpse, being careful not to let the blood stain it.

"Now, we need some running water," the hunter determined, sniffing.

"Why?" Asuka questioned, and Kynigós gestured at the bloody corpse. "This thing reeks of blood and death. Can't you smell it?"

"Uh, no?" the girl shrugged.

"Your nose must be defective, then. Point is, if I can smell it, so can any animal. We need to wash it off or its stench will warn off other animals," the hunter ascertained, casting around, before leaping back into a tree, almost silently.

Asuka blinked, pausing, and considered this. "Hey! My nose isn't defective!"

"Well, mine's clearly better," Kynigós snorted as he dropped out of the canopy. "This way,"

{Apo-C}

Sure enough, within minutes the hunter had led them to a river that carved a furrow through the forest. The sunlight shone through the gap in the leafy roof above, and Asuka relished the sunlight in her face.

Kynigós had no time for such romantic concerns, dropping to the river and immediately washing off the rabbit's body.

"So, what was the past like?" Asuka quietly questioned. "Before the dragons came? You said you time travelled. Were things better?"

Kynigós paused. He remembered Edolas. He remembered King Faust. He remembered the bloodstained, decapitated head of Erza Knightwalker. He remembered the dead bodies of his guild.

"There weren't as many dragons," he settled on.

"Well, I figured that, but -" Suddenly, the hunter sensed something. There was _something_ coming. "Shush," he hissed, holding up a hand.

Asuka blinked, and rallied. "Shush? What the hell do you mean? I'll shush when I -"

"Shut up. Something's not right," Kynigós muttered, looking around.

Asuka blinked, but realised hos serious his tone was, and decided to obey. He fingers inched towards her rifle, as she saw Kynigós do the same.

And then a massive shadow above them blocked out the sun.

The two humans looked up, shocked, and saw a massive dragon that Kynigós immediately recognised. Onyx black scales, encrusted with white natural armour and with a long spike on the end of her tail. The massive creature landed, throwing out unstable legs and landing in a skid a little ways down the river, tail lashing in frustration.

"Oh, crap," Kynigós muttered as Nefartari turned, and eventually the Crypt Dragon was glaring down at them.

With her single functioning eye.

Kynigós' eyebrows slid upwards. Nefartari's right eye, the one that he had thrown a bomb into, had turned a bleached, featureless white, and the scales around it were bruised and stained a shade of red. "You!" the monster roared, her fury echoing for miles around. "You did thisss to me! You pitiful little insssect!"

Asuka gasped, but a smile tugged at the hunter's lips. "You - you mean her eye? Did you do that to that dragon?" the gunslinger questioned, and Kynigós nodded. "Yeah. I did. Not bad for a pitiful little insect, huh?"

"Do you know what you've done to me?" Nefartari challenged, lowering her head and twisting it a bit to get a better look at the two humans. "You've ruined me!" she shrieked. "How can I hunt when everything to my right is one massssive blind ssspot? How can I even fly? And do you have any idea what the other dragonsss will think when they find out that thisss was done to me by a _human_?" the dragoness demanded, baring massive teeth and spitting the word. "The Dragon King will banisssh me! I'll be outcassst from my kin! And it's all becaussse of you!" she spat.

Kynigós eyebrow quirked, and he mouthed the words; "Dragon King . . ?"

A growl built in the massive creature's threat, but she paused, sniffing. "Odd . . you sssmell of dragon," Nefartari mused, the word trailing off as she thought.

"Seriously, do I?" the hunter blinked, looking at his aged khaki coat in irritation. "Damnit. I thought I washed that off,"

Hearing no response from the dragoness, he looked back up, and saw purple light starting to spill from between her teeth as she charged a breath attack. Kynigós cursed and started to scramble back towards the treeline, even though he knew it was hopeless and here was no way he could dodge her purple energy, whatever it was, at this range.

"Kynigós!" he heard Asuka shout, and turned to look, just as she dove into the river and let the current drag her away. A smile tugged at his lips, realising she was onto something, and he followed her lead, plunging into the rushing water and letting it drag him away.

Seconds later, Nefartari blasted the area where they had been standing with purple energy. While their tactic had spared Asuka and Kynigós from a direct hit, it caused a swell of spray that catapulted them down the rushing river.

Kynigós surfaced several metres away, struggling with his gun. "Why aren't y-" he shouted in Asuka's direction before the swell dragged him under again.

And then they both stopped, running into a scaly black wall. Surfacing again and looking up, they realised that Nefartari had used her front paws to block the river and catch them.

"Boo," the massive dragoness spat, glaring down at them. Kynigós gritted his teeth. "Don't suppose you have any explosives?" he asked Asuka who scoffed. "Yeah, because I just carry bombs around twenty-four seven,"

"Perhapsss you ssshould. You might have sssurvived," Nefartari snorted down at them, before opening her mouth again and building another charge of purple light.

Kynigós tensed.

Asuka gulped.

A cackle echoed through Nefartari's threat as she prepared to blast them.

And a huge white shape fell out of the sky and smashed her halfway across the forest.

Kynigós blinked in shock. Asuka's lips quirked upwards in delight.

"Are you alright, little one?" the dragon questioned, a massive blue eye glancing down at them.

The hunter frowned. "Okay, who is this guy?" he questioned, looking between Asuka and the newcomer in confusion.

A smile played over the dragon's lips as he raised his head, adjusted his wings and declared, "I am -"

"Bassstard!" Nefartari shrieked, throwing herself at the other dragon and knocking him onto his side, raking her claws down the pale underside of his neck. In response, he lashed out with his wing, which had a thorn-like spike adorning the joint, and knocked her away.

"Hold that thought," the dragon growled, opening his jaws wide and pelting Nefartari with a blast of solar energy.

"It's Stardust!" Asuka beamed, gazing up at the somewhat gangly white dragon.

"Friend of yours?" Kynigós checked, and the gunslinger nodded. "He's a dragon who likes humans. He helps protect Ghoulia . . sometimes,"

Stardust reared up on his hind legs, spinning, and whipped his tail around, smashing Nefartari's flank. "Stay away," he grunted, lashing out with a foreleg and almost punching his opponent. "From," Nefartari span and reared upwards, building another charge of her strange purple energy to attack Stardust with, but he got there first, lifting into the air by kicking off with his hand legs and flapping with his wings, before lashing out in a staggering kick with both his hind legs that sent Nefartari sprawling. "My humans!" the white dragon roared.

After waiting a moment to ensure that the Crypt Dragon was not likely to get up again, Stardust turned and looked down at Kynigós and Asuka, bending down and inspecting them. "Are you two alright?" he questioned, and Kynigós grinned. "Yeah. Thanks!" he shouted.

"I'm good too. It's nice to see you again, Stardust!" Asuka shouted up at him.

"And you, Asuka," Kynigós raised an eyebrow. Asuka was on first-name terms with a dragon? That was a surprise.

"Now. Would you like me to give you and your friend a lift back to Ghoulia? I don't think you should stay here," Stardust suggested, and Asuka nodded. "You're probably right, but I left my bike on the outskirts of the forest. I've gotta go get it,"

"Fair enough. I shall meet you there, then," the white dragon declared, spreading his wings and taking to the air.

"She's still alive, y'now," Kynigós observed.

"Stardust hates taking lives, even those of his enemies," Asuka murmured, fishing her Viver Card out of her pocket to get a direction. "He won't let dragons kill humans, or . . well, the other thing never happens so it's a moot point," she sighed, forging through the forest in the direction her card was twitching.

Kynigós frowned. Nefartari was lying back there, vulnerable. It couldn't be that hard for him to finish her off, right? He could fulfil his dream, kill a dragon.

Except . . it wouldn't satisfy him. Just like killing Kixezen would have been little better than poaching, Nefartari had been defeated by Stardust. Not himself. She wouldn't be his trophy if he killed her now. It wasn't right to do something like that.

So he shrugged and followed Asuka as she lead the way back to where she had stashed her motorbike.

{Apo-C}

As her motorbike sped back towards Ghoulia, Kynigós and Asuka were surprised to see a cluster of people on the surface of the town.

"Are they out here just for us?" the hunter asked, and the eleven-year-old shook her head. "Nope. They're here for him," she corrected him, gesturing to the sky. Kynigós was only mildly surprised to see Stardust flying above Ghoulia, doing tricks and flips in mid-air.

Asuka pulled to a halt on the outskirts of town, and Kynigós dismounted, going to greet Equivaton.

There was a muffled bang as the hunter shot the Earth Dragon, the bullet wedging in the thick scales of his foreleg. Failing to even respond to their little greeting ritual at this point, Equivaton turned baleful red eyes on Kynigós and grumbled good-naturedly. "Oh. You're back already,"

"Good to see you too, you big lizard," he hollered up at the dragon.

Exhaling, Equivaton's head sunk back to the ground, eyeing Stardust flying above him. Kynigós frowned, picking up on his dragon friend's troubles. "Something wrong?"

"He's such a show-off," the dragon grumbled, twitching his tail irritably. "Does he really need to do all those fancy tricks and twirls just to put on a show for some fleshbags?"

"Not to mention, he's making himself an easy target. If I had a missile launcher right now . ." Instead of finishing the sentence, Kynigós raised a fist and spread his fingers out in an explosive motion, accompanying the gesture with a 'pew' noise.

"Precisely," Equivaton grouched, exhaling. A massive red orb slid backwards and he turned his head, eyeing his injured wing.

Kynigós tracked the gesture, and raised his eyebrows inquisitively. "Hey, wait. You're jealous," he observed with a sly grin.

"Don't be foolish," the big dragon rolled his eyes.

"No, no, I get it. You're mad that he's prancing about in the air while your wing still has a massive hole in it and you can't fly," Kynigós smirked.

"Stupid little whelp. As if any self-respecting dragon would be so petty," Equivaton huffed.

"Oh, so you're lacking in self-respect too? Well, that makes sense. Why don't you just roll over and die already, eh? Make my life easy," Kynigós smirked, baring his teeth.

Equivaton chuckled good-naturedly. "Such an impudent little whelp you are,"

"Where's Zena?" Kynigós suddenly questioned, and the large dragon gestured with his good wing to where his tail was curled around his right flank. Jogging around his body, Kynigós soon spotted his 'younger sister' napping, curled up in the hollow formed by the Earth Dragon's tail and leg. "Oh, good," he grinned.

Equivaton sighed, blowing hot air over Kynigós. "Alright, enough slacking off, whelp. I want you to go find a boulder, and punch it with all your might,"

The hunter cocked an eyebrow at this seemingly absurd request. "Why?"

"So that it will break in half,"

"And if it doesn't?" Kynigós asked, putting his hands on his hips.

"Then you punch it again and again until it does," Equivaton commanded.

The hunter frowned. It bothered him that the big lizard thought he had the right to order him around . . then again, being able to throw punches strong enough to break a boulder in half sounded useful . . "Alright, fine. But not because you told me to or anything. I just want to now, for my own sake,"

"Whatever you say, whelp," Equivaton snorted.

{Apo-C}

As the winter sun died an early death on the horizon, Nefartari clumsily flapped her way to a mountain range towards the north. Tall and foreboding, the snow-capped peaks loomed above her. The Crypt Dragon shivered as she passed between them, angling for the pass that led into a large valley. It wasn't often that something made her feel small, but looking up at those mountains was, to a dragon, that rare thing; a humbling experience.

A lean, jet black dragon appeared before her, and she slowed as the guard fell in beside her. Unfortunately, he fell in to her right.

"Nefartari? Dear god, what on earth happened to your eye?" Oslothes, the Pitch Dragon, questioned, recognising her.

Luckily, Nefartari had already settled on a convenient story. "I fought one of the traitorsss to our kind. That impudent whelp, Ssstardussst," She paused for effect, a growl rumbling in her throat. "I came off sssecond-bessst," she finished, portraying a careful air of reticence.

"Unfortunate," Oslothes agreed.

"Take me to the Dragon King. I have a requessst," the Crypt Dragon commanded.

"Well, that depends. What do you have in mind?"

A dark smile engulfed Nefartari's maw as she spoke. "I want to take a group of volunteersss and wipe out that human hovel that Stardussst is so fond of, onssse ands for all,"

A/N

 **A/N**

 **Things are getting intense, huh? We've got a callback to the Sempiternal Phoenix, too!**

 **Also, those of you who are fans of Yu-Gi-Oh! should recognise Stardust as a minor feature from another fandom. If not, the words 'Signer Dragon' should jog your memories . . not that there's actually going to be any Signer stuff going on in here. Kynigós has enough on his plate. (And, knowing him, if he ran into the Crimson Dragon, he'd try to kill it and put its head on his wall.)**

 **Anyway. Would you believe that this is one of the lighter chapters in this entire spin-off? War!**


	5. I'd Love This If It Wasn't Gonna Kill Me

Log #5: I'd Love This If It Wasn't Gonna Kill Me!

Things are actually starting to settle down around here, as crazy as that might seem.

I've fallen into something of an easy rhythm over the last couple of days. Sleep out under the stars with the dragons, have breakfast with Asuka, then go out hunting with her in the morning. Break for lunch with whatever we catch, train with tips from Equivaton in the afternoon, have dinner, then spend some time with Zena before going to sleep.

I never thought I could ever feel anything like normal again. But this place . . it's almost starting to feel like a home.

I mean, I'm still going to kill the big lizard. But . . I guess there's no rush.

{Apo-C}

In Ghoulia, food was rationed and supplies carefully monitored. Consequently, if you wanted to eat, you had to be in the 'mess hall' at 1900 hours exactly.

"That said, I don't know who they're fooling with the military jargon. It's not like this is an army," Asuka huffed as she and Kynigós collected their dinner and found seats at a table.

Several people shifted uncertainly as they did. More than a couple cast Asuka dirty looks, which didn't go unnoticed.

"Did you kick someone's grandma or something?" Kynigós questioned. Asuka dumbly shook her head, clueless as to what she has done to attract such hostility.

"I think I know," The two tuned in surprise to see Arcadios sitting next to them with his own dinner. "Forgive me. I thought I might join you," The older man smiled at Asuka. He'd always had a soft spot for the young pseudo-orphan. Perhaps it was because she reminded him so much of a young greenette he'd once taken care of . . before the Dragon King Festival took his princess away from him . . but no sense dwelling on the past.

"I don't mind," Asuka assured him.

"Yes, well," Arcadios hummed thoughtfully. "The simple fact is, somehow it got out that you were the one who brought this young man's dragon friend here. That didn't win you any favours," he explained.

"Oh," Asuka mulled this over.

"But Equivaton's not evil," Kynigós interjected.

"That may be so. But the general consensus is that Asuka didn't know that for sure, and she might as well have been leading a dangerous monster to our base," the knight explained. "And who's to say that next time, she won't?"

The gunslinger blinked. "Do they really think I'd do that?"

"Well, they don't know for sure, do they?" Arcadios pointed out. "And it's going to be very difficult to convince them otherwise. After all, no one rewards you for _not_ doing something bad,"

"I see," Asuka nodded, frowning.

"Well, we'll need to figure out something," Kynigós declared. "I'm not having my friend looked down on because she helped me,"

"Let us hope so," Arcadios agreed.

There was a moment of silence.

"What? No speech about how I should reconsider? About what a great leader I'd make? About all the good I could do the people who live here?" the hunter asked.

Arcadios looked at him, and smiled a small, infuriating smile. "No,"

{Apo-C}

Meanwhile, the two dragons had met up. Or, rather, Stardust had dropped in on Equivaton and the Earth Dragon knew there was no way he could outrun the other if he tried to escape.

"So, that human. He's yours, isn't he?" Stardust questioned.

Equivaton cast an appraising eye at him, shrugged, and nodded. "I care about him, yes,"

"So you want him to survive this world," the smaller dragon ascertained, and Equivaton nodded. "You know, there's only one way he'll manage that,"

"I'm fully aware," the Earth Dragon assured Stardust. "I assure you, I have a plan,"

"So you are teaching him," the other inferred.

"Yes," Equivaton confirmed.

At this, Stardust gazed Equivaton in the eye and watched his countenance carefully. "I hope you know what you're doing," he finally offered.

"So do I," the dragon nodded. "But I have a feeling like you're not just telling me this because you're curious. What's your interest in my little trainee?"

Stardust avoided his gaze. After a moment, the gangly dragon sighed and shrugged. "I tried it too," he admitted.

"You attempted to educate a human with Dragon Slayer magic?" Equivaton questioned, surprised.

"Yes. He was a young man who I found on a small island. He had a good heart, and cared about his friends. He would have been perfect," Stardust sighed. "His name was Yusei Fudo,"

Equivaton, sensing that Stardust was about to pause, took note of the past tense and gently prodded. "What happened?"

"Other dragons found out, and not a single one agreed with me. Everyone remembers Acnologia, and what he did," Stardust shook his head. "Even those of us who support human relations refuse to teach any more Dragon Slayers. Acnologia was born out of the best of intentions, and yet he came to embody the worst of both human and dragon alike. The idea of even taking the chance of creating another like him is . . unpopular," he sighed.

"They killed him, didn't they?" the Earth Dragon questioned.

"Yes," Stardust confirmed.

"That's unfortunate," Equivaton nodded.

"Let us hope this hunter of yours shan't share the same fate," Stardust shrugged.

Further conversation was, unexpectedly, forestalled, as a distant roar echoed in their sensitive, draconian eardrums.

"What was that?" Equivaton questioned.

"Hold on," Stardust grumbled, spreading his wings and launching into the air, in order to get a better view.

Equivaton watched as Stardust soared, circled for a bit, and eventually landed back near him. "What is it?" he asked, an almost tangible sense of urgency in the air.

"Dragons. Five of them, flying in formation. And, by the looks of things, one of them's a Titanwing," Stardust growled.

Equivaton took a sharp breath at this. The title of Titanwing was reserved for the oldest, largest and most powerful of dragons. "Do you know what they want?"

"No, but they're being led by that one-eyed whelp-sire I fought earlier today. So I doubt they're friendly," the white dragon grumbled.

"Nefartari?" the Earth Dragon grimaced. "Damn," He cast a concerned glance at the crook formed by his tail, where Zena was cooing over a butterfly that had landed in the scraggly grass underfoot. "I'm in no shape to fight, and the hatchling will be in danger if they get here,"

"Well, we don't have long. Maybe ten minutes,"

"No, they cannot be _that_ fast," Equivaton rebutted.

"Look for yourself," Stardust shook his head.

Craning his neck and awkwardly trying to raise himself onto his hind legs, Equivaton spotted the incoming dragons over a distant rise. "Oh, dear," he growled. "We need to warn the humans,"

"I don't think we're going to fit into those caves,"

Equivaton smiled a smile that was oddly reminiscent of Kynigós. "How loud can you shout?"

{Apo-C}

Dinner was interrupted by a bellowing noise that echoed throughout the compound, startling several people, including Kynigós, to their feet.

"That was Equivaton," he frowned, looking towards the ceiling of the subterranean mess hall in concern.

"Is there some sort of trouble?" Arcadios asked.

"I'll go check," Kynigós nodded, shouldering his hunter's pack and scooping up his rifle, before charging towards the corridor that he knew led to the entrance.

A couple of minutes later, he arrived at the exit closest to where Equivaton had settled. Drawing his gun, he shot the large dragon in the flank to get his attention, and Stardust jumped as Equivaton turned. "Good, you're here. Get back downstairs and tell everyone to get the hell out of those caves,"

"What? Why?"

"Hostile dragons. Approaching from the north. Led by an old friend of ours," Equivaton growled.

"That one-eyed Crypt bitch? Shit," Kynigós cursed, wheeling on his heels and charging back into the mines.

"Alright, they're within range," Stardust realised, turning his head and inhaling, before firing off a breath attack of glowing white energy.

The expertly aimed shot would have struck one of their assailants head-on if he hadn't rolled out of the way first, and it still clipped his wing.

Equivaton rolled his eyes and wondered if Stardust had really thought that through.

"Incoming!" the other dragon suddenly gasped. Needing no further prompting, Equivaton whirled, snatched up Zeta by the scruff and dashed to the left, as Stardust went right. A moment later, four colourful blasts of energy impacted where they had been standing.

Evidently, he hadn't. But the Earth Dragon frowned. Only four? Why hadn't the fifth dragon fired?

"I'll go engage them, se did I can keep a couple off you. You make sure the humans get out," Stardust commanded, taking off. Equivaton nodded, looking concernedly into the mountain. He hoped the humans were getting organised in there.

{Apo-C}

Kynigós and Arcadios watched as everyone in the mess hall rushed towards the corridor that led towards the south exit. "Do you think everyone will get out?" Kynigós asked.

"Yes. We designed this place with that in mind," Arcadios reassured him.

"Good, I'll leave that to you," Kynigós declared, whirling and dashing to the north - again.

"Where are you going?" the knight demanded, watching him.

"Zena's still out there. And it would suck balls if the big lizard died before I could kill him. I'm not leaving either of them when I can back them up," Kynigós tossed the phrase over his shoulder as he left.

A rueful smile crossed Arcadios' face at this. "He's a good kid. I hope he survives," the elder nodded.

{Apo-C}

Equivaton watched as Stardust peppered the five dragons in formation with blasts of energy. Two of them took the bait, peeling off and targeting him. The Titanwing motioned with his head, and the third unknown dragon turned and went after the other two. Equivaton gritted his teeth. That left Nefartari and the Titanwing for him to deal with.

Then something strange happened; the one-eyed dragoness started to rise, spiralling into the air. Equivaton watched her go, spiralling towards the sky. "What are you up to?" he growled, before returning his attention to the unknown Titanwing as it crashed to the ground, not far away from him.

Equivaton stared at the dragon who was more than twice his size, a frame coated in dark scales. Rounded ridges ran down his spine, and a short, stubby tail that ended in a club twitched. His four legs each ended in hooked, serrated claws of ivory, and his head, crowned with four horns that protruded in all directions like lightning rods, seemed to be all jaw, with beady little eyes attached to a small muzzle whose massive, rounded underbite almost hid his nostrils.

The Titanwing's massive jaw fell open, and he bellowed at Equivaton, "So! You would defend this nest of humans?"

Thumping his forelegs to shake the ground as he rose, Equivaton roared back. "I am Equivaton, the Earth Dragon! And I shall not allow you to destroy innocent lives!"

"I see. Well I, Rigvayt, the Gravity Dragon, shall eradicate this scourge on our land. And nothing shall stand in our way!" the barrel-chested beast retorted.

"Our?" the Earth Dragon parroted, looking around. "It seems to me that your allies have abandoned you,"

"Quite the contrary. They're just waiting for me to bring the prey out of their holes!" Rigvayt retorted. With this, he inhaled a massive, gasping breath, causing his diaphragm to become bloated and swollen, like a massive balloon, and then he roared, a noise comparable to an avalanche falling from the sky and destroying everything in its wake.

But there was no visible reward for his efforts, that Equivaton could see. "What did you just do?" the Earth Dragon questioned.

"Observe," Rigvayt smiled, before raising his clubbed tail high and bringing its whole weight down on the ground. Suddenly, cracks appeared from the impact point, which raced towards the mountains that enclosed and covered the town. Equivaton watched as the fissures spread beneath his feet and deep into the earth, the overwhelming power of the Titanwing Dragon smashing Ghoulia as though it were a jigsaw puzzle.

And then, to his amazement, parts of the mountains began to break away and float into the sky. The recoil from the impact threw massive chunks of earth into the air, where they spiralled away into the sky. Equivaton' eyes widened, because it was as though there was suddenly no gravity dragging them back down to earth. "What did you do?" he questioned as parts of the town began to be scattered in the sky, a field of debris stretching like a pillar into the clouds above.

"I created an area, centred on that town of yours, where there is no longer any gravity," Rigvayt smiled darkly.

Equivaton immediately realised what his goal was. "I'm not letting you get to the humans," he growled.

"That's fine," the Gravity Dragon nodded.

The casual acceptance of his demand threw the smaller dragon. ". . Why?"

"Because I'm not the one who's going after them," Rigvayt shrugged, before pointing upwards with his maw. "She is,"

Knowing already what he would see, Equivaton twisted his neck and looked upwards. Sure enough, Nefartari was flying through the debris at an impossible right angle to the ground, straight towards the unearthed underground community. "Oh, crap," he growled.

{Apo-C}

Joining the throng that was now rushing towards the southern exits, Asuka was trying to find her way back to her mother's room.

"Move, brat!" a man spat, shoving her aside as he barrelled towards the exit.

Asuka blanched. "Rude," she grumbled, continuing to shove her way through the throng, giving as good as she got, until she stumbled into a side passage that was devoid of all but a few escaping refugees.

Immediately recalling the directions to her mother's room, Asuka rushed down the passageway, weaving left and right, until she reached the curtain draped across her mother's little hollow.

Ducking inside, the gunslinger found Bisca Connell - predictably - clinging to the worn old photograph of her deceased father. "Asuka, you're here!" she smiled toothily. "Look, Alzack, our daughter's back,"

Asuka sighed. This was going to be difficult. "Mum. We need to leave, _now_ ,"

"Really? But what about your daddy?" she asked, looking down at the picture.

"You can - um," Asuka paused as a thought occurred to her. "Dad," she repressed the urge to choke on the word, "is already outside. He's waiting for us, so we need to go and meet him,"

"Oh. Well, alright then," Bisca nodded agreeably, picking herself up. "Then let's go!"

{Apo-C}

Kynigós had been almost at the exit to the caves when, suddenly, the ground shook underfoot and . . began to rise? Stumbling, he fell forwards as the path suddenly rose behind him, reversing the slope. But, instead of hitting the ground as he expected, his feet left the ground and the hunter unexpectedly realised that he was floating in the air. Which was good, as the cave continued to grow a greater incline, until the bend he had previously been making for was a pit beneath him.

Kynigós' foot hit what had once been the roof, and he used this purchase to kick off it, propelling himself upwards. "I don't know what's going on, but this is kind of fun!" he declared, hitting the wall again and pulling himself upwards. A thought struck him, and he reached into his hunter's pack and produced a pair of short knifes, usually used for climbing. Instead, any time he got close enough, he dug the tips a little way into the walls of the gravity-less cave and used them to pull himself upwards.

And then, suddenly, there was no cave.

Kynigós had emerged into a massive space, in which he was surrounded by chunks of mountain and rock on all sides. Through cracks and holes, he could see the open sky. "Okay, now what?" he frowned. Maybe he needed to get out his grappling hook.

And then a familiar roar echoed through his ears as a chunk of mountain was thrown aside and a black-scaled, one-eyed dragoness flew down towards him. In seconds, Kynigós had his gun out. "You again, eh?" he bellowed at Nefartari.

Drawing to a halt, seemingly unbothered by the fact that she was hanging upside-down in defiance of all physics and convention, the Crypt Dragon regarded him inquisitively. "Ssso. Evidently, if I want to get rid of you, I'll have to kill you," she hissed at the hunter.

"You've already tried twice. Are you sure you don't want to just give up and go home?" Kynigós retorted, shaking his head. His blond hair, usually hanging straight, rose in the absence of gravity, giving him the appearance of having golden horns.

Nefartari opened her mouth and inhaled, preparing a breath attack. Knowing he couldn't dodge, Kynigós had seconds to come up with a plan.

He suddenly flashed back to his brief encounter with Master Eternity of Kairos End.

Fishing a special bullet from a pocket on his coat, he broke his gun open, loaded it into the firing chamber and snapped the two halves back together. With that, he fired, straight into the fleshy interior of Nefartari's throat, where it vanished amongst the purple light building there.

"Pathetic," Nefartari hissed, preparing to fire as the energy in her maw reached critical mass.

Kynigós grinned. "Bang!" he shouted.

And the explosive bullet that he had just fired into her throat exploded, destabilising the buildup of energy that had risen at the back of her mouth. Nefartari spasmed, throwing her head upwards as energy burst from it in a hacking cough. The floating dragon emitted a mixture of a scream and a cough as the energy of her own breath attack went rampant within her body, sending shivers and spasms running through her nervous system.

The hunter grinned . . and then realised that a stray flailing limb was about to hit him. He had just enough time to curse before being thrown backwards, towards the ground far behind him.

{Apo-C}

The first Asuka and her mother knew of the effects of Rigvayt's magic was when the cave around them split in half and their feet lost all purchase on the floor.

As the rock around them fell away, Bisca looked around frantically. "What's going on? Where's Alzack?"

"Um . . I honestly don't know, mum," Asuka frowned, looking around. Unfortunately, there was nothing in her reach except her mother, and, worried that they might drift apart, quickly grabbed her arm.

For a few, long, minutes, they drifted there, unable to move around or react to anything. Asuka's attention was mostly focused on keeping her mother calm, and Bisca was breathing into her hat.

And then a cursing speck sailed towards them.

Asuka looked up in surprise, recognising the blonde hunter. "Kynigós?"

Kynigós spotted the two women, blinking in surprise. "Asuka?" Taking a moment to plot his course as he descended towards them in the zero-gravity environment, he realised that he wasn't going to pass close enough to them to reach them.

Frowning, he unslung his pack, and carefully aimed the top of it in their direction, before pulling on a cord. Immediately, a massive, billowing cloud of silk emerged from a packet on the top, sailing outwards and spreading in all directions as it sunk towards the two girls. "Grab the parachute!" Kynigós hollered.

"More like it's gonna grab us," Asuka grimaced, but obligingly snatched at the silken canopy as it came within reach. The downward momentum of Kynigós' descent pulled them along with him, albeit at a reduced rate, and Asuka, with her mother still clinging to her, clawed her way along the parachute until she and Kynigós were metres away from each other. "What the hell is going on?" she questioned.

"Beats me. But it has something to do with enemy dragons," he shrugged.

"Yeah, I got _that_ memo," Asuka rolled her eyes. "There's one down there, with your friend," she pointed, and, following her gaze, Kynigós saw Equivaton eyeing up Rigvayt. "Damn. I gotta get over there," he declared. "Take my hand," he added.

Obligingly, Asuka grasped his wrist. "Why?"

Kynigós pulled another cord, and the parachute began to compress itself back into his backpack. "So that I can reuse my parachute later," he informed them.

"Hey, is that the garage beneath us?" Asuka asked, spotting a chunk of rock slowly revolving in their path. Kynigós nodded. "That's where your bike is, right?"

"Can we go there for a bit? It'll probably be safe, and I'd rather not leave my bike," Asuka pointed out.

Kynos hummed, but nodded. "Alright. As long as we don't stay," he declared, carefully angling towards the asteroid.

As they went, a single baleful eye watched them go, and tracked their direction.

The three braced for landing, and as soon as he hit it Kynigós had his knives out and was getting purchase in the rocky surface. "Hold on tight," he declared, scrabbling over to an exposed opening and pulling the three of them into the cave.

"Why can't we stay?" Asuka questioned.

In response, the hunter gestured at the floating rocks, still visible through the opening that they had entered in. "What goes up must come down," he pointed out.

{Apo-C}

"Are you going to attack us?" Equivaton growled at Rigvayt. The two had been locked in what almost amounted to a staring contest for several minutes.

The Gravity Dragon shrugged. "No, I don't think so. I just came here to help out the youngsters. I'm not really interested in a few morsels,"

Equivaton raised his eyebrows at this, but the Titanwing wasn't done. "But you said 'us'. Now, why did you do that, when you and I are the only ones here?" he wondered, scrutinising the Earth Dragon carefully.

It was a hilariously inopportune moment for Zena to yawn and start squirming where she was hidden in the folds of Equivaton's tail. But she did, and Equivaton's eyes went wide and he repressed the urge to look over at her.

But the damage was done, and Rigvayt eyed him curiously. "So, there's someone hiding back there? Humans, perhaps?" he mused, before inhaling and bellowing again.

And, suddenly, gravity lost its hold on Equivaton. The Earth Dragon squeaked in a very undignified way as his feet left the ground. Zena, on the other hand, gasped excitedly, stretching her little wings and flapping. The resulting upwards momentum lifted her out of the protective crook, and, though Equivaton lunged to block her from view, it was too late.

Rigvayt blinked, surprised. "A hatchling," he mused, considering this unexpected development. "I didn't anticipate that . . well, I've no objection. Carry on," he shrugged, settling down.

Equivaton raised a scaled brow as he sunk back to the ground. ". . Good then,"

{Apo-C}

"Okay, we'll be safe here for a bit," Kynigós ascertained, looking around. The half a dozen or so vehicles that had been in the garage when . . whatever was going on began, were floating in mid-air, occasionally bumping into each other.

Asuka, releasing her mother, snatched at her bike. "Yes!" she beamed, clutching at the handlebars.

"You are way too attached to that bike," Kynigós pointed out.

"Shush," the gunslinger snapped.

Kynigós clambered into a battered magic-mobile and tried to start it, and, to his relief, the engine ignited, turning over and beginning a throaty purr. "Alright, everyone in the car,"

"Whatever you say, Alzie baby," Bisca cooed, floating over and swinging herself into the back seat of the jeep.

"Does that do any good? The wheels aren't touching the ground," Asuka pointed out as she grabbed a rope.

"I assure you, that won't make any difference when I'm done," Kynigós declared, reaching into his hunter's pack as the younger gunslinger tied her bike to the jeep. "What are you doing?" he frowned.

"Like hell am I going to leave my bike behind," she snorted in response.

"Okay, whatever," the hunter sighed as he wedged a firework into the jeep's exhaust. "That should give us enough propulsion to get out. We just have to wait until we're pointing in the right direction," he explained, gesturing at the exit to the garage, which was slowly rotating.

"Say when," Asuka nodded, clutching the handlebars of her motorbike.

Kynigós nodded, scrutinising the scenery outside. Any moment now. It had to be at just the right angle if they were going to escape this null-gravity field and not immediately fall out of the sky and die from the fall.

But, suddenly, a massive black shape blocked their view, and a single, baleful eye glared at them with menace. "Hello again, fleshbagssss," Nefartari hissed, baring her teeth in their direction.

Everyone froze; even Bisca had enough wits about her to realise this was bad.

"You're all trapped. Like ratsss in a barrel. Thisss couldn't be more perfect," the Crypt Dragon's excitement was palpable.

"Back to the tunnel. Now," Kynigós commanded, leaping out of the jeep. Nodding, Asuka loosed the rope, kicked off the ceiling and followed him, dragging her beloved bike with her.

Lines wrinkled in Nefartari's face as she realised they were trying to escape. "No. Thisss isss where you die!" she spat, opening her mouth and building a breath attack.

Kynigós clutched at the exit that they had entered through, looking back at the jeep. "Come on!" he shouted. Asuka, hearing this, turned and looked.

Bisca was still seated in the jeep.

"Mum?! What are you doing?!" she shouted. "Get out!"

"Oh, um, if you say so, dear," the woman nodded, reaching down and fumbling.

"Did you seriously put your seatbelt on?!" Kynigós snapped.

"Safety first!" Bisca cooed, finally getting the strap undone. Having done that, she carefully extricated herself from the magic-mobile, before looking over at the two. "Don't worry, baby. Mummy's coming!" she shouted, tensing her legs in anticipation of kicking off the jeep.

And purple light engulfed the cave as Nefartari fired.

The shockwaves knocked both teenagers back, a fireball forcing them back through the cave and out into open space again. Kynigós, luckily, had the presence of mind to kick off the lip of the exit to the asteroid that the garage had become, sending them spiralling away and out of the blast radius - which was convenient, as, seconds later, it erupted like a geyser of destructive purple energy.

Asuka stared at the collapsing garage in dismay. "Mum . . she could have survived that, right?" she suddenly begged Kynigós, staring into his earthy brown eyes.

Before the hunter could respond, in unison the engines of the magic-mobiles exploded, sending shockwaves through the garage that smashed it into pieces. Debris and fiery energy was blown in every direction, and, on instinct, Kynigós spread his fireproof khaki jacket wide, pulling the hood up, and let it engulf the pair of them as flaming energy surged around them.

Moments later, the blast cleared, and Kynigós released Asuka, but the girl, tears tricking down her cheeks, still clung to him. "She can't be," the thirteen-year-old murmured. "Not after all this . . she can't be,"

A bellow interrupted them as Nefartari spotted them. "You just won't _die_ , will you?!" the Crypt Dragon roared in anger, beating her wings and throwing herself towards the two of them.

Kynigós watched her come. He stared back at Asuka, and gritted his teeth as fury surged through his body. "You fucking bitch!" he yelled, clenching his fist as the black dragoness approached, and it was as though all the anger, all the energy in his body, was coalesced in his fist, causing it to seem to glow with orange energy. "You won't get away with this!" he declared, kicking off Asuka's bike and flying towards Nefartari, bringing his fist back.

There was a flash of light as he punched forwards, an ornate circle inlaid with symbols appearing around his wrist for the briefest second, and foreign words bubbled to the surface, until the boy felt that he had no choice but to let them out.

And, as the sheer force of his punch unleashed a shockwave that knocked the dragon away, Kynigós roared, " _Earth Dragon's Titanic Fist_!"

A/N

 **A/N**

 **Ooh, boy, this will be good.**

 **Minor note; the phrase 'Titanwing' is actually borrowed from How To Train Your Dragon, in which Titanwings are old and powerful 'elder' type dragons. Since we don't know much about dragon culture in Fairy Tail, I borrowed a few things from other shows.**

 **On a lighter note, I'm hopeful that everyone knows about the Chapter 100 Q/A session! Because I can confirm that all of the characters of Apocrypha will be open for any questions you want to throw in. Even the ones that are dead. Don't think about it too much.**

 **Still, though . . everyone is reading Apocrypha, right? Because I have a sum total of one review so far. That's bad, even for my silent readership.**

 **War.**


	6. I'm Not Even Surprised Anymore

Log #6: I'm Not Even Surprised Anymore.

 ** _Previously, on "Apocrypha" . . ._**

 _"You fucking bitch!" he yelled, clenching his fist as the black dragoness approached, and it was as though all the anger, all the energy in his body, was coalesced in his fist, causing it to seem to glow with orange energy. "You won't get away with this!" he declared, kicking off Asuka's bike and flying towards Nefartari, bringing his fist back._

 _There was a flash of light as he punched forwards, an ornate circle inlaid with symbols appearing around his wrist for the briefest second, and foreign words bubbled to the surface, until the boy felt that he had no choice but to let them out._

 _And, as the sheer force of his punch unleashed a shockwave that knocked the dragon away, Kynigós roared, "Earth Dragon's Titanic Fist!"_

{Apo-C}

Yep, everything went tits up. I don't know why this surprises me anymore. Beats me as to why, but the whole goddamn mountain is breaking into pieces and floating in the sky.

But that's not the worst of it. This fucking bitchy lizard just killed Asuka's mother. And sure, that old bat was a pain in my behind, but if everyone I didn't like died there wouldn't be anyone left.

Except Zena. I guess.

Also, something's wrong with my hand. It's glowing. And I don't know why. But when I punched the one-eyed lizard, she felt it. So let's see what this Dragon Slayer crap can do.

{Apo-C}

The punch sent Nefartari spiralling away. Kynigós grinned as the recoil of the zero-gravity attack knocked him back to Asuka and her bike.

"You have Dragon Ssslayer magic?" the Crypt Dragon spat in consternation, glaring at the hunter with new . . eye. Singular.

"Yeah. Totally," Kynigós nodded. Whatever the hell that was, if it meant he could punch out dragons he was down for it. And he knew how the saying went; fake it 'till you make it.

"That'sss interesssting," Nefartari mused, looking around. Her eyes alit on something, and she smirked. "But I think I'll leave you to the othersss," With that, beating her wings, she veered away, headed past them in a different direction.

"Where's she going?" Asuka asked as the dragon shoved aside a boulder in her path . . . revealing dozens of other humans floating in the air, stranded just as they were. And the Crypt Dragon was headed straight towards them.

"Oh, like hell," Kynigós snorted, reaching into his bag and withdrawing a grappling hook. "Hold on tight," he advised, throwing the hook towards a chunk of debris. It caught, and he pulled on it, dragging them towards the floating rock. Asuka, who seemed to have gone into a state of shock, numbly clung to his back.

They hit the rock, and Kynigós clung to his grappling hook to make sure they didn't go spiralling away. "Damnit. We'll never catch up at this rate," he growled, letting the rock spin in mid-air and looking for a good place to throw the grappling hook next.

The first thing he saw, as soon as the stranded survivors came into view, was several of them being engulfed in purple light that spilled from the one-eyed dragon's jaws. Kynigós gritted his teeth. "We need to get out of here. Now," he grumbled to Asuka, who didn't respond.

And then the dreaded sound echoed in his ears; the roars of two more dragons as they plunged into the debris field . . somewhere below him? Relative to his current orientation, at least. "Save some fun for us, Crypt-spawn!" Kynigós distantly heard one of them roar.

He looked at the stranded people, floating in mid-air, and a twinge of regret tugged his heartstrings as he knew they were all as good as dead. He might be able to to rescue a couple if if were just Nefartari, but against three? There was nothing he could do.

So, kicking off the asteroid, he launched himself, dragging Asuka and the motorbike to which she clung for dear life with him, in the direction where he had last seen Equivaton. "It'll be a miracle if we can get out of this alive,"

{Apo-C}

"Come on, come on!" Boomer shouted, encouraging people to continue making their way down the corridor that would lead them out of Ghoulia. Even with the absence of gravity, they were still making steady progress. "How's it coming?" he questioned Arcadios as he emerged from a side passage, shepherding a cluster of people into the main thoroughfare and using his sword to push them along.

"We're doing the best we can," the knight nodded.

"What about Penny? Any sign of her?" Boomer immediately questioned, worried about his wife.

"Sorry, but I haven't -"

"I'm here!" came a shrill cry from down the passage. Boomer started, and a break in the crowd revealed the former reporter, her half-moon spectacles glinting in the dim lights that had once been overhead. "I'm coming!" Penny shouted, and the Phoenix grinned, happy to see that she was alive.

There was an echoing roar, and suddenly the cavern broke apart. The walls broke away, and light spilled in, trapping Penny, along with several others, in an opening void.

"Penny!" Boomer roared, horrified, and shoved through the crowd, pulling himself along by the bodies of his fellow survivors - until the woman in question squeaked; "No, stop!"

The Sound wizard paused. "What?"

Penny shot him a sad smile. "Don't worry, darling. None of this really matters. There's a better time and place for us,"

"What are you tal -" The words died in Boomer's throat.

A pair of massive red jaws lunged into the gap and, along with everyone else who was exposed in the gulf, swallowed Penny whole. In an instant, she was gone.

"No," Boomer muttered, shaking his head in dismay. And in that moment, something broke, deep within him.

The music had finally stopped. There was nothing left for him anymore.

"Arcadios?" he spoke as the world grew silent. "Get these people out of here,"

"What? But . ." Arcadios trailed off as the young man turned to him, and he saw the expression on his face. "Very well," he nodded, turning around. "Come on, everyone. Keep moving!"

Boomer turned, eyeing the gulf, and, tensing his legs, leapt outwards. "Oi! Asshole!" he hollered, glaring at the dragon who had been eyeing the floating cave, searching for a way to get at the meat inside. He was a big, bright red creature, all harsh lines and crusty, brimstone-like skin. The creature didn't even deign to respond, instead just eyeing him curiously.

The Phoenix cupped his hands together, before forcing them outwards, and shouted; "Mega-Bass!" A hyper-accelerated quantum singularity of pure sound sped through the metres of space between them, and struck the dragon right between the eyes.

The beast flinched. "That hurt," he growled, and the offender smiled as he opened his maw.

And, in a rush of flame, Emanuel "Boomer" Arestrad was reduced to ash.

{Apo-C}

Kynigós grinned as the massive brown dragon he called his ally came into view. He could make out a tiny speck of white that had to be Zena, and, other than the longstanding injury to his wing, they looked unharmed. The hunter drew breath to shout - and then he spotted the massive, gunmetal-coloured dragon seated nearby. "Shit," he growled. The unknown dragon didn't look friendly.

Gripping his grappling hook, he tossed it sideways, and it caught another rock, turning his forwards momentum into a swing around. Kynigós frowned, pulling himself towards the rock, until he and Asuka had reached it. "Hey. Little girl," he turned his head to glare into Asuka's listless eyes. "Get a fucking grip!" he roared.

Asuka blinked, and her eyebrows twitched.

Encouraged by the response, Kynigós snapped his fingers in her face. "Focus. We're still alive, and I want to keep it that way,"

"Uh-huh. Yeah," Asuka dully nodded, slowly regaining her senses. "Oh god. Oh god, oh god,"

"Don't be stupid," Kynigós shook his head at her, and the gunslinger blinked. "Huh?"

"There's no God. At least, not one who gives a shit about us. So don't waste your breath on empty prayers. Instead, focus on yourself. What are _you_ going to do? How are _you_ going to survive this?" Kynigós questioned.

"Is that what you ask yourself every day?" Asuka suddenly snapped, tears brimming in her eyes. "You, you? What about _us_? How are _we_ going to survive this? Because that's what people need! A 'we'! Because if you're just thinking about yourself all the time, then maybe you are surviving. But there's no point in surviving if you're not living!"

Kynigós paused, momentarily taken aback by her words. His brow furrowed.

Asuka sniffed, clutching at the hunter's one remaining arm, and tears dripped into his jacket.

"Alright," the hunter frowned, looking back down at where Equivaton was positioned against the other dragon. The fingers of his metal fist clenched. "We'll try it your way. How are _we_ going to get out of this?"

"Maybe we could distract that grey dragon somehow? Or something?" Asuka suggested.

Kynigós raised an eyebrow thoughtfully. "Hmmmm,"

{Apo-C}

Arcadios shepherded people towards the edge of what had once been Ghoulia, where it seemed that gravity was still normal. "Come on!" he declared, encouraging people to leap to freedom. "If we can get out of Ghoulia, we can escape!"

Several people, heartened, leapt into the gulf that stood between them and freedom. They cheered, and were cheered on, as they soared towards the undisturbed, gravity-obeying ground.

And then a boulder was thrown out of the sky and crushed all of them against its skin before smashing into the ground. Arcadios gulped, knowing there was no way anyone could survive that. Leaning outwards, he looked upwards, and saw a gangly yellow dragon floating above them, hefting and preparing to throw another boulder.

"Everyone stay back!" Arcadios cautioned the survivors. "It's only a matter of time until -"

There was a bellowing roar, and, suddenly, in seconds, the entire chunk of cave they were standing in crumbled to dust, leaving them exposed.

"Fear me, humans!" the dragon Arcadios had spotted just before roared, glittering eyes staring down at them. "Fear the wrath of Greapis, the Sand Dragon!"

Looking around at the remnants of the cave, Arcadios could only dumbly nod. That certainly was sand, alright. He was almost embarrassed that his end was coming from such a ridiculous power.

And then Greapis lunged downwards, beating his wings with a menace, and Arcadios was no more.

{Apo-C}

Rigvayt spotted something in his peripheral vision and looked up. To his surprise, what looked like some kind of rocket, with what he immediately picked out as a humanoid figure attached to it, was soaring across the sky, away from the pillar of debris that was Ghoulia and towards safety.

The Gravity Dragon hummed, looking around, but he could see that three of his accomplices were occupied with the humans still within the debris and the fourth was finishing off that upstart that had come to fight them. "I suppose that's my cue," he mused, getting to his feet and casting a glance at Equivaton. Rigvayt philosophically shrugged - the injured dragon and the hatchling were clearly no threat, and he didn't really care if they escaped. So, spreading his wings and channelling his anti-gravity powers, he lifted off, wheeling, and went in pursuit of the projectile. Sniffing, he registered the scent of human flesh, and smiled, redoubling his efforts to catch up.

A few minutes later, Equivaton spotted an object spiralling towards him from among the debris. As soon as it escaped the field of anti-gravity, it immediately released a familiar sky-blue parachute.

The two dragons watched as Kynigós, with Asuka clinging to him and her bike strapped to her back, landed a few metres away. The parachute immediately started to collapse in on itself, and soon the two humans rose.

Zena squeaked in excitement.

"What happened?" Equivaton rumbled, and Kynigós waved him off as he scrambled towards him. "Later. We gotta get out of here!"

"Right," Equivaton nodded. Raising a massive paw, in a flourish he scooped up Zena, Kynigós, Asuka and her bike and dropped them all onto his back. "Hold on tight," he advised, before taking off in a full-tilt run, rushing away from the remains of Ghoulia as quickly as he could.

"You didn't shoot him," Asuka noticed.

"Pardon?" Kynigós blinked, unsure what the gunslinger was talking about.

"I thought that was some sort of greeting ritual or whatever; every time you see Equivaton, you shoot him. So why didn't you?" she asked.

"I forgot, okay?" the hunter snapped.

"Then why don't you do it now?" Asuka suggested, gesturing to his gun.

Kynigós looked at the weapon, and shook his head. "No,"

"Why not?"

"I don't feel like it. Now shut up. Equivaton needs to focus," the hunter snorted.

Asuka shot him a knowing smile, which he ignored.

"Oi, fleshbag? How did you distract that Titanwing, anyway?"

Kynigós grinned, shaking his head. "Sometimes, life is more important than trophies,"

{Apo-C}

Rigvayt finally caught up with the comparatively tiny projectile. Extending a claw, he snatched it up and regarded it in curiosity, expecting screams of horror or pleas for mercy. Instead, though, there was silence.

And then he opened his claw and saw, not a human, but an inflatable balloon that looked like a human and smelled like meat, strapped to a pair of fireworks. And, also tied to it, was a decaying human head.

Roaring in anger, he crushed the decoy in his claw, knowing that he had been duped.

{Apo-C}

"I think we've lost them," Equivaton finally declared after half an hour's full-tilt run. Kynigós, once they were a safe distance, had taken out a lacrima camera and taken a photograph of the pillar of floating debris that had once been Ghoulia. "For the journal," he had explained to Asuka's questioning glance.

"And if we haven't, then Kynigós can do his magic punch and scare them off again," Asuka giggled.

"Magic punch? What was that?" the Earth Dragon questioned, intrigued. Could it be that all the training was paying off?

"Oh yeah," Kynigós remembered, and cuffed the dragon. "What the hell kind of stunt are you pulling, teaching me some sort of Dragon Magic without telling me?"

"I thought you wouldn't trust me if I told you," Equivaton shrugged.

Kynigós conceded the point. "True. But still," he grumbled. "You're just lucky I like it, you big lizard. Or I'd kill you for that,"

"Not if I eat you first, fleshbag," Equivaton smiled as he continued to walk across the countryside.

"You two have a very weird relationship," Asuka quietly observed.

Equivaton settled down next to a hill, and extended his non-injured wing to let the humans and dragonet off. Asuka gingerly wheeled her bike out and back onto solid ground.

"So, fleshbag. Show me," Equivaton commanded, glaring down at Kynigós.

"Show you what?" he asked.

"Your Dragon Slayer magic,"

"How?" Kynigós questioned. "Before, it sort of just happened, 'cause I was really mad,"

The Earth Dragon nodded. "And now, you ought to be able to call upon it. So try,"

"Alright," Kynigós nodded, clenching his fist and remembering what he had done earlier. "Earth Dragon's Tectonic Fist!" he shouted, throwing a punch.

Nothing.

"Pathetic," Equivaton snorted.

"Easy for you to say! You're just sitting there telling me what to do!" Kynigós shouted, leaping at Equivaton's flank and bringing his fist back again. On instinct, he yelled; "Earth Dragon's Titanic Fist!" and a flare of orange light impacted the dragon's flank. Equivaton grunted in a mixture of pain and approval. "That's how you do it,"

Kynigós scoffed. "See? Told you I could do it,"

Behind them, Asuka, who was dully watching them with a forlorn look on her face, rolled her eyes. "You're such an asshole," she murmured.

"Ash-hole!" an unfamiliar voice squeaked, and all three turned in surprise to see Zena sitting up, wide awake, and with her mouth open. "Ash-hole!" she repeated again, looking quite proud of herself.

Kynigós stifled a snort. "Is that her first word?" he asked Equivaton, amused. The Earth Dragon nodded. "I suppose something like this was inevitable," he sighed, gazing at Kynigós and Asuka with baleful eyes. "After all, she has you two for family,"

"What the hell is that supposed to mean, you big -"

"Ash-hole!"

Kynigós stifled a smile. "Yeah. You big asshole!"

The ghost of a smile flitted across Asuka's face.

The gunslinger frowned thoughtfully. "Hey. Kynigós?" she asked, beckoning the hunter over. Raising a curious eyebrow, Kynigós moved over and sat next to her. "What is it?"

In response, Asuka pulled a familiar-looking slip of paper out of her pocket and held it up. "Hey, isn't that that Viber card thing that you use to find your bike?"

"Vivre Card. And it does more than that. It's connected to my life force," Asuka held up the end of it, which was looking singed. "See? It shows you how close to dying the person who it belongs to is. As long as the card is intact, it means I'm alive, and anyone who has a piece of it will be able to find me any time,"

"Wow. Earth Land magic is really something, huh?" Kynigós observed, amused.

In a quick gesture, the eleven-year-old tore off the sole remaining intact corner of the card, before offering it to Kynigós. "Here. I want you to take this,"

"What?" the hunter blinked.

"Just in case," Asuka informed him.

Kynigós mulled it over. ". . . Fine. But don't think this means I care about you or anything, okay?" he huffed.

A/N

 **A/N**

 **I felt ending the chapter with a bit of levity would be a good idea. War.**


	7. People Are Crazy, And I'm Okay With That

Log #7: People Are Crazy, And I'm Okay With That.

Okay, so, it's been about a month since my last journal entry. There really just hasn't been much to say.

Zena's learning to talk. Well, she's learning to swear and insult people with proper syntax. Which is basically the same thing, right?

Asuka's still a sad sack, but that figures. I mean, she is an orphan now. Though, so am I . . and Zena, though she does view Equivaton as a surrogate father . . and, y'now, the big lizard's never talked about his family, so . . we've got a real club going here, eh?

And Equivaton's still teaching me this Dragon Slayer magic shit. I'll be honest; it's all kinds of whacked out, but in a good way. After all, I've already turned one dragon into a cyclops and another into a laughingstock. And soon, I'll be able to fight them on their own terms. Yeah, it's only a matter of time until I have a dragon skull on my mantel. (Also, it's only a matter of time until I have a mantel. I'll put that on my to-do list, right after 'kill a dragon'.)

We're still on the move. Drifting from place to place. Equivaton's wing is healing, which is a relief - it'll be good for him to be able to get airborne. Every few days, we spot a dragon or two, but so far, no humans. And, at Asuka's suggestion, we've been heading east. Apparently her old home town is on the east coast, and she hopes some of her old friends might still be holed up there. I think it's a hell of a long shot, but after losing her mother, no one really wants to tell her no.

Anyway. Our destination is some place called Magnolia. Let's hope it works out better than Ghoulia, eh?

{Apo-C} - _One month ago . . ._

Stardust groaned as he crashed to the ground. A heavy, muscled form hit him, pinning his neck to the ground, and a massive mouth snarled at him.

"I don't think I'll kill you," the large dragoness, with faded blue scales, covered in red and white highlights, and large, goat-like horns encroaching on her cheeks. "Much better to let you live; a life full of shame and dishonour, regretting your mistakes,"

"They . . weren't . . mistakes," Stardust wheezed, glaring defiantly up at her.

The dragoness laughed coldly. "We'll see if you still think that in a few days. Remember this, wind dragon; you live only because Miach, the Prismatic Dragon, allows it," And with that, she took wing, flapping into the sky.

Miach was on the verge of plunging into the debris field that was Ghoulia and sampling some human prey, but she noticed a large, brown shape fleeing on the ground.

Moving in closer, the dragoness realised it was a dragon; injured, and carrying two humans on its back. A smile tugged at her triangular jowls as Miach considered her options; she could kill them now . . or follow, and hope that they would lead her to more prey.

This should be _fun_.

{Apo-C} - Present Day

"Well, this is it," Equivaton declared, looking over the crest of the hill he and his passengers were standing on.

"Well, hot damn," Kynigós murmured.

"Yeah. It's been ages," Asuka mused.

Before them was a massive body of water, glittering like an ocean of sapphires.

"We've reached the coast," the hunter observed.

"Magnolia should be just a bit north, along the shoreline," the gunslinger informed the others. "I'll take my bike and scout ahead, see how things are in town,"

"By all means. I'll find something to eat," Kynigós declared, and Equivaton let the two of them down. Asuka wheeled her bike onto solid ground and mounted it, strapping the SE plug to her wrist. "Alright, I'm gone," she declared, revving up the engine and speeding off.

As she left, Kynigós cocked his gun and waved to Zena. "Back soon!" he assured her.

{Apo-C}

It wasn't long before the earth and dirt underfoot turned to paved stone, and the trees fell away to be replaced by ruined, abandoned buildings. Asuka looked around in dismay; it had been years since she'd been here, but she still remembered how her home town had once been. Passing down the main street, she noted with grim satisfaction that the garish building that had once served as the base of operations for Twilight Ogre had been reduced to rubble.

She knew that she ought to be looking for survivors, but first, there was something she had to do.

And so it wasn't long before the gunslinger was pulling up outside the dilapidated farmhouse that, for much of her early childhood, had served as the guild hall of Fairy Tail. Incredibly, the windmill was still standing, even though the nearby barn had collapsed.

Pulling up outside and parking her bike, Asuka warily advanced. The door was missing, but that was no surprise. She looked inside, and, suddenly, was struck with a wave of nostalgia.

A torn and dirtied easel still sat in one corner, and she recalled Uncle Reedus sitting at it, painting any number of amazing things for her. The worn patch of floor where Vijeeter had once practiced his Dance Magic. The barstool that had always been favoured by Mister Macao, where he had drunk away his sorrows time and time again.

It was all so familiar, and yet all so far away.

And it was empty. Swallowing nervously, Asuka forced herself to be objective, and shouted, "Hello? Is anybody here?"

There was no immediate response. The tweenage girl shrugged, turned around, and was about to step outside . . when, suddenly, the building shook, and she heard a distant rumble from behind the building.

Taking her bike and stepping back from the guild hall, she looked around for the source of the noise, and saw something above the tree line. There was a plume of steam that hadn't been there before, and it seemed to be moving . . in her direction.

Walking around the side of the building, Asuka peered through the trees, attempting to see what the source was. Between the branches, she saw flashes; faded steel plates, wheels kicking up sparks, glowing windows, trees being knocked aside and collapsing.

And, whatever it was, it was encroaching on the guild hall.

The blood drained from Asuka's face, and she pulled her bike away from the building, before climbing on and gunning the engine. In minutes, she was speeding down the hill, escaping the threat, until she was at the end of the road, watching the building and knowing, whatever was in the forest, whether it was a dragon or something else, it was about to destroy her childhood home.

And then it exploded from the tree line. Immediately, Asuka recognised it; it was a train! A retrofitted train with car wheels to replace its own and the front of an off-road magic-mobile haphazardly attached to the front. There was what looked like a steel water-wheel mounted to it, spinning forwards as the train moved, scooping up everything in its path and feeding it to the roaring engine contained within the metal monstrosity, and with steel guards rigged around the wheels to protect them. A funnel still attached to the rusted orange boiler belched out the trail of steam and smoke that Asuka had seen before, and attached to the funnel hung a black pirate flag that showed a pair of lips and a tongue with a crossbones.

And as it emerged from the forest, it skirted the Fairy Tail guild hall and targeted the collapsed barn, scooping up the ruined timbers and piles of straw and consuming them, causing happy gouts of flame to burst from grilles on the sides of the machine.

The hodgepodge monstrosity rolled over the garden, eating its way through the fence and emerging onto the main road. As it did, Asuka saw that two similarly-retrofitted train carriages that still bore a faded green/gold paint job were connected to it with an assortment of pipes and cables, and a flatbed lorry was similarly attached to form a fourth carriage. On the roof of the first trailer was some sort of turret that looked like a Gatling gun, and mounted in the bed of the lorry was what almost looked like a missile launcher. Following in the absurd vehicle's wake was a bright blue van, as well as a car and a pair of magicycles not unlike her own.

And the procession was now barreling down the road, its spinning waterwheel rig and the black void beneath it like a massive mouth prepared to swallow her and her motorbike whole and convert them into fuel.

Asuka gulped, swung her leg over the seat of her bike and gunned it.

{Apo-C}

"Alright, lunch is up!" Kynigós grinned, hefting a freshly killed deer.

"Indeed it is," Equivaton assured him, throwing a rock in his direction.

Kynigós narrowly dodged the small boulder. "What the hell was that for, you big lizard?"

"That was for _lunch_. It's about time you learned how to eat your element for strength,"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Kynigós asked as Equivaton picked up another boulder, opened his jaws wide, and crunched it between his teeth. "Oh, no. No, no no no,"

"You have seasonings in that bag of yours, right?" the Earth Dragon questioned.

"It doesn't matter what I season it with, I'm not eating no goddamn dirt!" the hunter roared in response.

In response, Equivaton leapt over and pinned the boy to the ground with a claw. Kynigós gasped, before raising a fist. "Earth Dragon's Titanic - mph!" His half-formed Spell was interrupted by a chunk of stone being forced into his mouth by Equivaton's surprisingly dexterous claws. "Eat it," the dragon commanded.

Zena watched all this with wide eyes. She thought it was hilarious.

Kynigós struggled as Equivaton shoved the rock further into his mouth. "Mm . . nat . . gunna . ." And then his gag reflex kicked in and he swallowed, taking the rock into his body.

Satisfied, Equivaton released him, leaving the hunter to splutter uncontrollably. "You big -"

"Ash-hole?" Zena put forward.

"Yeah! What the hell are you playing at?!" Kynigós demanded.

"Shush, you. It worked, didn't it?" the Earth Dragon responded.

Kynigós rolled his eyes. "I am not eating rocks!"

"That's fine. Soil is better for digestion anyway," The hunter was certain that Equivaton was toying with him now. "Oh, go bury yourself in a cave or something,"

"If I do, I'm taking you with me," the dragon informed him.

{Apo-C}

Asuka sped down the main street of Magnolia. The absurd train and its convoy continued to pursue her, the clattering noise of its engine drowning out all else.

South Gate Park sped by to her right, and, suddenly, Asuka noticed that the massive tree - the one she remembered having picnics with her parents underneath - had been knocked onto the road and was blocking her route. It looked to have been there for a while; the trunk was blackened and decayed, and the leaves had long since abandoned the cracked and splintered branches.

She grimaced. "Shit," and twisted the handlebars sideways, sending her bike dropping off the road and down into the park to avoid the blockage. Gripping the frame of her ride with her knees, Asuka immediately sped back up the embankment and briefly let herself fly into the air, at which point she landed with both wheels back on the road.

Glancing behind her, she saw the gluttonous engine of the train bite into the tree trunk, breaking it into splinters and swallowing the remains. "I really liked that tree," she sighed, before speeding on, seeing the smoke-stained spire of Kardia Cathedral not too far away. Maybe the cathedral might afford her some safety?

But as she emerged onto the street, she saw it. The cathedral had collapsed, crushed under the foot of a long-gone dragon, with only the main tower still held up by a shaky foundation of stone.

"Shit," Asuka muttered and drove past it, continuing to angle south. If she could lead her assailants back to Kynigós and Equivaton - well, a junkyard on wheels was no match for the greatest hunter in Edolas.

Oh, and an Earth Dragon. Actually, Equivaton probably would be more effective.

So she left the buildings behind her, speeding back into the forest as the train pursued her, smashing through the undergrowth and eating up trees and bushes. On nimble wheels, Asuka darted between trunks before angling left and emerging onto the beach. As the pursuing train emerged onto the beach, it kicked up a cloud of sand, and Asuka dared to look back, hoping that it might have been trapped in the sand. But no such luck; the thick, off-road wheels of the train were ploughing through the sand, and the train kept coming.

They must have made quite a sight, a lone motorbike with a trail of sand behind it being pursued along the shore by such an absurd train. But Asuka didn't care. She was a little too preoccupied with _not dying_.

And then she saw them; the massive form of Equivaton looming next to a hill. She grinned; the dragon's brown scales made him look like a pile of dirt if you didn't look too closely. And Asuka was certain that her pursuers were too preoccupied with her to pay attention to the topology. The forest had cleared, so she angled back onto solid ground. The last thing she wanted was sand clogging her precious bike's engine.

As the gunslinger crested a hill, and Kynigós and Zena came into view near Equivaton, she hollered, "Look alive, we have hostiles!"

Kynigós was on his feet in an instant, unslinging his gun. "Dragons?!" He shouted back at her.

"Trains!" Asuka replied as she reached the bottom of the hill and sped towards him.

Kynigós frowned, cocking her head at her. "What was that?" he frowned, and the dragons seemed equally confused.

And then, with a loud whistle, the absurd train reached the top of the hill and started to speed downwards in pursuit. The glowing yellow windows locked with Equivaton's eyes for a second as a roar echoed from the motor within the massive spinning mouth wheel, and Equivaton growled, realising the threat. As the hostile vehicle rattled down the hill, Kynigós watched it in equal parts horror and bemusement. "Oh. Trains,"

Asuka sped past him, shifting her balance and skidding to a half, splattering Kynigós with dust. The hunter barely even noticed, raising his gun and taking aim at the windows of the front carriage. "Eat this," he declared, and fired. The window exploded, and the hunter saw someone duck for cover within. He frowned, and wondered if it would be more effective to target the engine.

And then the train reached the bottom of the hill, and Equivaton was upon it, snatching the engine in a mighty claw and lifting it off the ground like a toy. The other four vehicles trailed to a halt as they registered the presence of the imposing Earth Dragon.

Kynigós' eyes widened as he spotted someone on the roof of the train, making for the artillery emplacement on the second carriage. "Look out!" he shouted, scrambling sideways and taking aim.

His finger was on the trigger when a vaguely familiar voice shouted, "Hold your fire!"

And then a very familiar-looking blonde woman jumped out of the train, clutching a makeshift white flag in both hands. Her command had been addressed at the man operating the turret, but Kynigós heeded it too, not least because he recognised the woman before him. "Lucy!" he shouted in amazement, abandoning his position and running towards her.

The Celestial Wizard turned in surprise. "Pierce?" She gasped, before beaming at him. "No way. I thought you were dead,"

Kynigós drew up short. For a second he had forgotten that this was Earth Land, not Edolas. ". . He is," he shot the Fairy down. "I'm Kynigós. I'm from Edolas,"

Lucy Heartfilia regarded him curiously, and a faraway look entered her eyes. "Edolas. Right, of course . . I haven't thought about that place in years," she admitted.

"Lucy?" Asuka gasped, running towards her, and Lucy turned and smiled. "There you are, Asuka," she greeted her guild mate.

Who promptly punched her in the face. "What the hell kind of crap are you pulling? You almost killed me!" Asuka shouted as the blonde collapsed to the ground.

Kynigós stifled a chuckle.

"I wasn't going to kill you," Lucy weakly offered, pushing the younger girl away. "I just saw you at the old guild hall, and I recognised that hat, and," She sniffed, and moisture began to brim in her eyes. "It's been so long since I saw anyone else who I knew before," the Celestial Wizard admitted, sinking to her knees and pulling a surprised Asuka into a hug. "I'm sorry that we scared you. I just wanted to catch up,"

"Well, you got us," Kynigós nodded, before looking up. "Or, rather, we got you. Oi! You can let them down now, you big lizard!" He hollered up at Equivaton, who carefully set the train carriage down, before peering at the two of them. "So, this little fleshbag's not my dinner?"

"No," Asuka fiercely retorted.

"Eh, she might be useful," Kynigós shrugged.

"Fine by me," Equivaton nodded, oblivious to the way Lucy was shaking in fear, and retracted his head. "So, he's, uh, a friend of yours?"

"Yep," Kynigós confirmed.

"Do I want to know?" the Fairy nervously questioned.

Kynigós thought back, considering the Sempiternal Phoenix, the time travel, the mess in Ghoulia, and shook his head. "No, I don't think you do,"

Behind her, someone else emerged from the train, and Lucy looked up. "Don't worry, they're friendly,"

"Good," the man standing behind her nodded. Kynigós looked up and saw a dark-skinned man with blonde hair and an arrogant smile. He could practically _smell_ the attitude oozing off him. "Cause we shouldn't hang around,"

"Why not?" Kynigós asked, standing and looking at the other man.

"We survive by staying on the move," he explained, placing his hands on his hips. "Name's Bellamy, by the way,"

"Kynigós. And why come to Magnolia?" The hunter, who had pieced together the series of events, asked.

"We've been moving around for years. We have a friend who lives in a bunker somewhere around here, and we were going to meet up with him," Lucy explained, and Bellamy added, "He's a mechanic, and we were hoping he could upgrade the Neo New Witch's Tongue,"

Lucy stood and elbowed the man. "I told you that we are not renaming _Urano Metrion_ after your old pirate ship," she hissed, gesturing to the absurd train.

"Urano Metrion? Isn't that a spell? Mum told me you used to do that," Asuka mused thoughtfully.

"Yeah. But I don't anymore," Lucy frowned, looking down as a shadow fell over her face.

". . Why not?" Asuka asked.

"Because only Celestial Wizards can perform Urano Metrion," Lucy sighed, and her eyes fell on a spot on her hip, where, once upon a time, a pouch had hung containing a magical keyring.

There was a moment of silence.

"Well, it makes a cool train," Kynigós uncertainly offered, and Lucy weakly smiled. "Thanks,"

"So," Equivaton rumbled, and the four humans looked up at him. "Who's this friend you were going to meet?"

"He used to be part of a rival guild to Fairy Tail, back when there were guilds," Lucy clarified, before looking at Kynigós. "Your counterpart in this world was a guildmate of his, actually,"

The hunter brightened at this. It would be interesting to meet another of his old guildmates - this world's versions of them, anyway. "Yeah? Who is it? Tyria? Master? The twins?"

"Um, no," the former Fairy shook her head. "His name's Astro,"

{Apo-C}

High above, a blue/red dragon flapped, circling above like a vulture. Miach grinned; she knew her gamble would pay off eventually.

{Apo-C}

Soon, _Urano Metrion_ was rattling onwards, as Bellamy, armed with a map, steered it towards the place where Astro's bunker should be. He was seated in a central chair, with a steering wheel before him and a myriad of other controls mounted around him.

"So, did I hear something about you being a pirate?" Kynigós, who was riding in the driver's cabin with him, asked. "Is that why there's a flag on the funnel?"

"Yep. You're looking at the former captain of the Bellamy Pirates," the dark-skinned man saluted. "Of course, this was back when people could still live on the Grand Line,"

"The Grand Line?" Kynigós asked, frowning.

"Oh, that's right, you're from some other universe, or something," Bellamy hummed. "The Grand Line is an ocean, filed with islands. There used to be pirates all over it, looking for fame and power and the "One Piece" . . but then the dragons came," he frowned. "Those monsters quickly learned that ships might as well be lunchboxes to them. And on the small islands of the Grand Line and surrounding areas, there was nowhere to run. We had to get out or get eaten,"

"So you came here, to Fiore," Kynigós surmised.

"Naah. I went to Alakitasia. But that place is even more screwed up than this one," Bellamy chuckled mirthlessly, swallowing and biting back tears. "I lost my ship, and my crew, and my idol, and my treasure," he choked. "All that's left are my fists and my flag,"

"And that's your flag out there," Kynigós gestured through the train's broken window to the black crossbones flag attached to _Urano Metrion_ 's funnel, with its pursed lips and extended tongue.

"You got it," Bellamy admitted, before starting to quietly hum a tune to himself.

After a moment, Kynigós asked, "What's that song?"

"It's an old sea shanty. Everyone on the Grand Line knew it," Bellamy shook his head.

Kynigós raised his eyebrows in expectant curiosity. "Well? Go on, sing it,"

"You sure? I'm pretty terrible," the pirate shrugged, but the hunter nodded encouragingly. "Alright," he nodded, and cleared his throat.

 _"Gather up all of the crew, it's time to ship out Binks' Brew,_

 _Sea wind blows, to where, who knows? The waves will be our guide,"_

Kynigós hummed along as Bellamy sung. It was a catchy, uplifting song, and, on an impulse, he whipped out his journal, flipped to the back page and copied down the lyrics. After all, a bit of levity could go a long way.

 _"O'er across the ocean's tide. Rays of sunshine far and wide.  
Birds they sing, of cheerful things, in circles passing by,"_

{Apo-C}

Soon, the _Urano Metrion_ was pulling up outside a large metal building with a rounded roof, painted with khaki colours for camouflage. Kynigós looked up at it, impressed. "This Astro guy has style," he admitted.

And then a quartet of turrets popped out of the ground, each baring lethal weaponry. One was aimed at the engine of the train, the other three at Equivaton, who had been following it on foot.

Lucy dashed out of the first carriage. "Whoa! Hey, Astro, it's alright! We're friendly!" she shrieked.

Kynigós cracked a grin, leaning out of the driver's cabin to watch the proceedings. He _really_ liked this Astro guy's style.

"Why did you bring a dragon to my bunker?" a voice echoed from tiny Lacrima around the main doors that the turrets were defending.

"He's friendly!" Lucy shouted in response. "See how he's not killing us?"

"He could be manipulating you, waiting for me to let you in before killing us all, including me!" the speakers retorted.

Kynigós rolled his eyes, dismounting from the train and looking up at the lacrimas, before focusing on one of the gun placements. "Earth Dragon's Roar!" he shrieked, letting loose a contained blast of spinning rocks that battered the turret until it was only so much scrap.

Everyone watched this in surprise, Lucy particularly so. "You're a . . Dragon Slayer?" she gasped.

The lacrimas buzzed for a second. ". . Alright then," Astro accepted, and the doors rolled open.

Bellamy blew the _Urano Metrion_ 's whistle victoriously and drove the absurd train into the garage. Kynigós and Lucy watched as the four satellite vehicles, as well as Asuka on her own bike, followed, and Lucy walked in.

"You gonna be alright out here?" Kynigós hollered at Equivaton, who still had Zena resting on his back. "We'll be fine," the dragon rumbled in response.

{Apo-C}

The various occupants of the five vehicles all exited for the first time, and Kynigós raised his eyebrows; not counting himself and Asuka, there were a dozen men and women inhabiting the _Urano Metrion_ and its splinter vehicles.

Asuka shivered, standing near him and looking at the small community; mostly adults and teenagers, but she saw one mother clutching a young child. "I miss Ghoulia," she murmured to Kynigós. "Hey . . do you ever miss your home? In Eda-whatsit?"

Kynigós considered this, taking a moment to reflect on the times he had shared with his old guildmates. Before Knightwalker had brought it all to ruin. "Yeah. I do," he admitted. "But those days are gone. The here and now, that's what's important,"

Asuka shot him a knowing smile. " _'How are we going to survive this?'_ , right?"

"Yeah, exactly," Kynigós nodded at her.

A clattering noise distracted Asuka, and as she turned to look at the commotion, Kynigós paused, realising what he had just said, and facepalmed. "Damnit, Pierce. Don't get attached, or you'll just set yourself up to get hurt," he commanded himself.

Meanwhile, a humanoid figure who seemed to be made entirely of metal was floating towards them, seemingly in defiance of gravity. "Good morning, travellers! What can we do for you today?" the mechanical woman with her lightbulb eyes asked, seeming to peer at all of them, as though she were somewhat nearsighted.

". . The hell is that?" Asuka questioned.

"Well, hello Tinka. A pleasure to see you as always," Bellamy grinned at the robot, and the gunslinger realised with surprise that she was actually hanging from string that hung from a mechanism on the ceiling. "Wow . . it's like this place is a giant puppet theatre," she observed.

"We need the _Urano Metrion_ repaired, and maybe upgraded if you can," Lucy explained.

Tinka giggled, and threw the Fairy a mock salute. "You got it, cutie pie," she grinned, and sections of the floor that the train was resting on began to descend into the bowels of the earth, before rapidly being sealed up.

"Um," Kynigós frowned, and Lucy noticed his concern. "Astro never actually comes out. He figures that the dragons can't get to him in his bunker, deep underground, and he's safe as long as he doesn't leave,"

"Well, why aren't we all down there?" the hunter demanded.

"Because he's incredibly paranoid, and hates contact with other people. Besides, it's a dumb plan to begin with. A dragon could easily dig him out, but staying down there keeps his paranoia in check," the Fairy sighed.

"So, if a hostile dragon attacks us here, we might all die because he doesn't play well with others," Kynigós interpreted, and Lucy shrugged. "That's life,"

"Bullshit is what it is," Kynigós grumbled.

"Well, there ain't nothing we can do about it," Bellamy shrugged, coming over and sitting with them.

"So, tell me more about the Grand Line," Kynigós suggested as a means of passing the time while Astro worked.

Bellamy brightened at this, and it wasn't hard to guess why. Everyone liked reliving happier days. "Alright," he accepted. "Have you ever heard about the legend of "One Piece"?"

"Nope," the hunter shook his head, and Asuka shrugged.

"Well, it goes like this. Twenty-nine years ago, there was a pirate named Gold Roger," the pirate began. "This incredible man gained wealth, fame, power - everything the world had to offer," he continued. "He was hailed the world over as the King of the Pirates,"

Kynigós raised his eyebrows. "Go on,"

"And then he died,"

A smile played at Bellamy's lips as Kynigós, Asuka and Lucy all simultaneously fell over in shock. "Well, what the hell was the point of 'everything the world had to offer' if he didn't live to enjoy it?" Kynigós demanded, picking himself up.

"No. The important part is what he did right before he was executed," Bellamy raised a finger, still with a devilish grin. "Someone asked him what he did with his treasure,"

"And what did he say?" Childish enthusiasm sparked within Asuka as she hung on every word from this grizzled survivor.

At this, Bellamy threw his head back and laughed, putting on a deeper voice. _"You want my treasure? You can have it!"_ he quoted with a wide smile. _"I left everything I gathered together in one place. Now, you just have to find it!"_

Asuka grinned, and Lucy chuckled, having heard the story before. "And so the legend of the One Piece, the treasure that would make the person who found it the next King of the Pirates, was born," Bellamy finished.

"Sounds good. A bit too good," Kynigós skeptically pointed out.

"Well, it's a legend. No one ever actually found it . . the dragons saw to that. Or maybe it was never real in the first place, there's no way to know," Bellamy grumbled. "Odds are, though, some dragon happened on it and is using it as a bed or something, with no knowledge of what it really is,"

"That's a shame . ." Asuka sighed.

"Yeah, well, if we live long enough, maybe we'll go look for it someday, eh?" Kynigós suggested with a smile. "I mean, we have a dragon. And if the Grand Line is as bereft of humans as you say, then the dragons around there will probably have moved on to find richer hunting grounds. The place will be deserted,"

"Hey, you might be right," Bellamy realised, cracking a smile. "Alright then,"

"We're gonna be pirates!" Asuka grinned, and Kynigós cast her a look. "We have to survive long enough, first," he pointed out.

{Apo-C}

Things were quiet for the afternoon, as well as the first part of the night, and as the stars emerged like thousands of eyes looking down on them, Kynigós reclined outside, with Zena snuggled up with him and Equivaton's tail curled around them both.

"Why aren't you inside, whelp?" Equivaton quietly asked, gesturing to the nearby bunker. "It's warmer, and all the other humans are sleeping in there,"

"So what?" Kynigós shrugged. "That's their choice. Me, I like sleeping with the starlight and with Zena,"

Equivaton quietly hummed, considering this. "I see," he noncommitially responded, settling down once again.

Lying against the dragon's scales, with his adoptive sister's head resting in his lap . . Kynigós wouldn't say he was happy. Happiness was a fleeting memory for him. But he was at ease, and that in itself was cause for celebration.

And then, because, obviously, the universe would not allow Kynigós to get a good night's sleep, a bellowing noise echoed on the wind.

Equivaton and Kynigós were immediately alert, and the Earth Dragon picked himself up and looked around warily. "Take Zena, get her inside with the humans. I'll go check it out," he declared, picking the direction that the sound seemed to have come from, and setting off before the hunter could offer a word of protest.

The Dragon Slayer looked at the sleeping dragonet, and groaned. "Low blow, you big lizard," he grumbled, before hoisting the baby in both arms and carrying her towards the partially-opened doors of the bunker.

Meanwhile, Equivaton, his lumbering form straddling the trees, searched for the newcomer. "Where are you?" he growled, looking around.

There was a flash of light to his left, and he turned towards it, approaching to inspect - but what he saw gave him pause.

White scales bruised and battered, wings crumpled and claws ripped from his digits, Stardust was lying, half dead, in a clearing.

Equivaton gasped, recognising the dragon they had met in Ghoulia, and rushed to his side. "Stardust? What happened? Who did this?"

Exhaling, the injured dragon's eyelids fluttered, before going wide as he registered Equivaton. "You have to tell them . ." he weakly breathed, clenching his jaw and spitting out words. "The humans,"

"Yes? What about them? What do you need me to tell them?" the dragon urgently pressed, suddenly concerned for Kynigós, Asuka and Zena's safety.

Stardust spluttered as his body went limp. ". . Run,"

Equivaton blinked, and paled, turning back in the direction of Astro's bunker. Seconds before a vaguely familiar dragon fell out of the sky and landed in front of it.

A/N

 **A/N**

 **The Urano Metrion train is completely inspired by Mad Max. I'll just put that out there.**

 **Y'now, after writing the scene with Kynigós eating dirt, I'm wondering how Natsu and Gajeel learned to eat their elements. XD**

 **War.**


	8. Gather Up All Of The Crew,

Log #8: Gather Up All Of The Crew,

 ** _Previously, on "Apocrypha" . . ._**

 _Miach was on the verge of plunging into the debris field that was Ghoulia and sampling some human prey, but she noticed a large, brown shape fleeing on the ground._

 _Moving in closer, the dragoness realised it was a dragon; injured, and carrying two humans on its back. A smile tugged at her triangular jowls as Miach considered her options; she could kill them now . . or follow, and hope that they would lead her to more prey._

 _This should be fun._

 _{Apo-C}_

 _"You have to tell them . ." Stardust weakly breathed, clenching his jaw and spitting out words. "The humans,"_

 _"Yes? What about them? What do you need me to tell them?" the dragon urgently pressed, suddenly concerned for Kynigós, Asuka and Zena's safety._

 _Stardust spluttered as his body went limp. ". . Run,"_

 _Equivaton blinked, and paled, turning back in the direction of Astro's bunker. Seconds before a vaguely familiar dragon fell out of the sky and landed in front of it._

 _{Apo-C}_

Well, all things considered, things are pretty good right now. We've made new friends, hooked up with a seriously sweet bunker, and we're all packed into the Crazytown Train that takes us wherever we need to go. And it doesn't even need rails, either!

Which is good. Because, considering how the rest of the world is looking, I don't think we'd get far on a track.

I've made a really cool new friend, too. His name's Bellamy. Apparently he used to be a pirate captain. Y'now, before his crew got eaten by dragons and his ship turned into firewood. But hey, he's got his flag! And he's even taught me this really catchy sea shanty. It's called Binks' Brew, and I've written down all the lyrics on the back page of my journal.

Of course, there's an upper limit to how good things can get. So, naturally, there's an evil dragon who wants to eat us all for a snack just outside and trying to get in.

But hey. Dragons are no match for the power of sea shanties!

. . . We're toast.

{Apo-C}

Everyone in the bunker looked at the door in horror as the unknown dragon glared at them, baring sharp teeth in a triangular smile. Miach licked her lips and savagely beamed, "Fresh meat,"

Suddenly, red lights and blaring sirens lit up the inside of the bunker, and a door at the back swung open as a sign appeared out of the wall above it; HUMANS GO HERE.

Needing no further indication, the inhabitants of the Urano Metrion, as well as the ones who drove the satellite vehicles, abandoned the two cars and ran, two of them, as well as Asuka, wheeling their bikes with them. Kynigós, carrying Zena, was quick to follow.

"No escape for you!" the dragoness hissed, forcing part of her head through the opening - her horns getting stuck on the doorway - and charging a breath attack.

But, as soon as Kynigos was over the threshold, the floor of the room dropped out, only for a massive platform to rise out of the earth. The hunter watched in awe as the huge machine on the platform was revealed, and, above them, the roof unfolded and fell away.

A massive body of gleaming black titanium, covered entirely with razor-sharp blades. Jet engines were mounted on the back, with unfoldable wings tucked around them. Four legs, bristling with pistons and pumps, supported it, and a long, segmented tail unfolded, ending in what was unmistakably some kind of giant gun. Glowing blue eyes shone, and a massive mouth bristling with titanic teeth snapped shut.

"No freaking way," Asuka gasped, watching the massive, mechanical dragon, now exposed to the sky as the walls of the bunker fell away, roar at its opponent. Printed on its side were the words 'AST-ROBOT DRACO 2.0'.

"What is this?" The unknown dragon inspected the machine in curiosity, wondering if it was a threat.

The speaker Lacrima around them crackled. "Take the Urano Metrion. Get out of here. The Draco 2.0 will hold her off!" Astro shouted from below.

"Huh? But -" Lucy started, but another section of ground opened up and the Urano Metrion appeared, looking refurbished and ready to go. Bellamy's pirate flag hung proudly from the train's funnel.

The two people who owned motorbikes mounted and sped off in different directions, and Kynigós rolled his eyes at how eager they were to abandon their friends. He was happy that Asuka didn't follow suit, instead loading her bike onto the flatbed at the back of the train.

"Are you coming or what?" Bellamy demanded of the speakers, addressing Astro. "If we escape, then she'll probably dig up the whole mountain to find you!" Lucy agreed.

"I'm way ahead of you!" a voice hollered from the rear carriage of the absurd train, and everyone looked over to see a wizened, elderly-looking man with electric spikes of white hair crowning his head hanging out of the lorry's cabin. "Everyone, get in!"

As if on cue, the Draco 2.0 roared and unleashed a burst of golden energy from its maw that knocked the enemy dragon backwards. Needing no further inclination, the inhabitants of the train piled in.

"Bellamy!" Kynigós shouted, spotting the pirate making for the driver's seat. As he settled in, the blond looked at him inquisitively, and Kynigós promptly dumped Zena on the floor next to his seat. "Now, I want you to stay here, okay?" he commanded the dragonet, who nodded, registering the serious expression on his face.

"Where are you going?" Bellamy called as Kynigós leapt out and made for the turret mounted on the flatbed at the end of the train.

"I'm a Dragon Slayer!" Kynigós shouted, leaping onto the lorry, behind the cabin where Astro had holed up. "Time to earn my stripes!"

"Well, you aren't doing it alone," Asuka snapped at him, climbing on next to him. "I recognise that dragon. She's one of the ones who were at Ghoulia. She kept Stardust busy while the rest of them killed us!" she growled. "I'm not letting her do that again!"

Bellamy looked down the line and saw the two of them, Kynigós standing ready and Asuka manning the turret.

"Go!" someone in the first carriage shouted, and as the Draco 2.0 took a staggering hit from the enemy's tail, Bellamy needed no further instruction, throwing back the throttle and spurring the train onwards.

"Eat Ion Cannon!" Kynigós heard Astro shout, and, looking through the window that had been installed at the back of the truck, he saw the spindly man tapping at some kind of controller. Looking back at the robot, which was grappling with the blue/red dragon, its tail swung around and discharged a blast of energy point-blank into her flank.

And then the train jolted, before starting to accelerate away from the dragon. Bellamy victoriously blew the whistle - and, judging by the way the noise repeated several times, Kynigós guessed that Zena had briefly gotten her claws on the whistle.

"Let's finish it!" Astro shouted, and, watching the Draco 2.0, Kynigós and Asuka saw it knock the living dragon away, before spreading its fighter-jet wings and retracting its head. Engines burst to life, and the mechanical monster lifted into the air, and oriented itself so that it was aimed directly at the dragoness. And then it fired, launching itself like a missile, prepared to blow the dragon into oblivion.

And Miach opened her maw and unleashed a stream of colourful energy that blasted the Ast-robot away, sending it spinning into the distance.

As the Draco 2.0 hit the ground and exploded, scattering debris all over the countryside, the dragoness turned and eyed the _Urano Metrion_ , razor-sharp horns gleaming and hunger in her eyes.

"Oh, shit," Kynigós muttered, a sentiment echoed by Asuka and Astro.

"Damnit. I lost the first one at the Dragon King Festival, and now this?" the elderly inventor grumbled.

{Apo-C}

Meanwhile, Equivaton, who had been watching the fight and waiting for a good time to intervene, frowned, watching the Draco 2.0 explode. There had to have been someone inside, piloting it. He eyed the Urano Merrion as the unknown dragon took wing and gave pursuit, but judged that they could wait. Meanwhile, if it had been one of his brats operating that machine, they needed his help.

The Urano Metrion would hold out without him while he ascertained the fate of the pilot.

{ **A-N: Just a minor note: Equivaton does not understand the concept of 'remote control'.** }

Kynigós and Asuka watched the monster pursue them as the _Urano Metrion_ rattled onwards, her silhouette clearly visible through the trail of steam that the engine belched out as the massive wheel on the front swallowed debris and turned it into fuel.

"Incoming!" Kynigós shouted, seeing the dragoness fire a different breath attack; a ball of colourful energy that arced downwards towards them.

"I'm on it!" Asuka shouted, spinning the missile launcher in its bracket and taking aim in less than a second. She fired with a percussive noise that sent Kynigós clapping his hands to his ears, his dragon-enhanced hearing giving the detonation added effect. Asuka and Astro watched as the perfectly aimed missile collided with the ball of energy, and the two exploded, sending a horizontal shockwave of energy through the air that, for just a second, lit up the night like a firework.

"Nice shot," Kynigós offered Asuka, who tweaked her hat in acknowledgement.

The Dragon above them growled and launched another attack, and Asuka started to target again, but Kynigós held up a hand. "Leave this one to me!" he declared, inhaling.

And, as soon as the projectile was in range, Kynigós clapped his hands around his mouth as though attempting to project his voice, and declared, "Earth Dragon's Roar!" A funnelled spiral of earth energy, as well as several rocks and boulders materialising out of ethernano, was launched from his mouth, intercepting the attack and knocking it away, where it sailed past the _Urano Metrion_ and hit a tree, causing it to explode, reduced to charcoal and ash.

"Here she comes!" Asuka hollered, and Kynigós looked up in horror to see Miach dive-bombing the train. Her target was the missile launcher that was giving her so much trouble.

"Earth Dragon's Roar!" the Dragon Slayer tried, but the attacker powered through it. Frantically, he grabbed the missile launcher and offloaded the remaining three shots at the dragoness, but she deflected them with casual ease.

He paused, hearing a motor rumble, and turned to see Asuka on her motorbike. "Grab on!" she declared, and Kynigós scrambled for the leather seat. "Astro?" she peered into the cab, but the spindly old man was already scrambling into the next carriage along.

The gunslinger gritted her teeth as Kynigós grabbed on. "Hold on tight," she hissed, turning the bike so that it was facing the end of the train, and gunned the engine, sending the bike leaping forwards, sailing over the edge of the _Urano Metrion_ and landing on the dirt that the train had just rattled over.

Seconds later, the truck exploded.

Asuka skidded as her bike's wheels hit the ground, and she span into a drift, kicking up dust and pebbles as debris rained down around them. Twisting the handlebars and gunning the throttle, she span a hundred and eighty degrees as the Prismatic Dragon smashed into the ground, ripping the remains of the rear carriage to shreds. Even as the _Urano Metrion_ rumbled onwards, her forelegs lashed out and grasped the second passenger car's sides, pulling on it and dragging the train to an abrupt halt. As the shock wave shook the train and reached the engine, Bellamy gritted his teeth and poured on the speed, causing the wheels underneath to scrabble in the dirt, losing friction.

Kynigós gritted his teeth, and, tensing his legs, leapt from the moving motorbike. The training that Equivaton had been putting him through paid off, and, in mid-air, he brought both fists back, before slamming into Miach's flank with a two-handed punch and a roar of; "Earth Dragon's Raging Impact!"

The blue dragon didn't budge, but grunted, distracted just enough to loosen her grip on the train, which immediately started to rumble away again as Kynigos landed on the dirt underfoot.

Irritated, the dragoness growled, turning her head and glaring down at him. "You are really getting on my nerves, fleshbag," she growled.

"That's what I do best," Kynigós grinned fiercely at her.

And then Asuka sped by, and he whirled and jumped, clinging to the metal framework and clambering back onto the motorbike's seat. "You're such a show-off," she grumbled in his direction.

"I'm just not letting her touch that train," the hunter retorted, worried for Zena.

Meanwhile, the dragoness snarled, taking wing again, and continued to pursue the _Urano Metrion_ , now with Asuka's bike running alongside it.

Kynigós eyed the gun turret on top of the train's first carriage. "I need to get up there. That gun might have enough firepower to drive her off,"

"Then just jump. You got onto my bike easily enough," Asuka scoffed.

"What the hell kind of superhuman freak do you think I am?" the Dragon Slayer challenged.

"The kind that can eat rocks and roar like a dragon," the gunslinger snapped in response.

"I can't jump onto a moving train!" Kynigós retorted, disregarding her argument.

There was a whooshing nose above them, and the two paused their argument to look up. Above them, the monster had evidently decided that they had to be dealt with at once, and was angling towards them with her foreclaws outstretched.

Asuka angled to the left, away from the train, but Kynigós knew that it was pointless. Their assailant was too fast. "On three, ditch, tuck and roll," he commanded.

"What?" the dark-haired girl demanded, outraged. Kynigós took no notice. "One,"

"I'm not leaving my bike!" Asuka snapped.

The hunter gestured with his chin at the massive Prismatic Dragon approaching them. "Two,"

Asuka gulped, looking down at the scratched plating.

And a burst of gunfire interrupted them. Miach screeched and wheeled away, and both humans looked up in surprise.

With a furious expression on her face, Lucy Heartfilia had clambered into the control seat of the machine gun mounted on the roof of the train, and was offloading the clip at the attacking dragon. Kynigós' eyebrows shot up, and he grinned. "Good shot!" he hollered.

"Save it for when we aren't all about to die!" Lucy shouted in response.

Asuka threw her a thumbs-up and gunned the engine, acutely aware of the fact that Miach was recovering. She swung towards the Urano Metrion's engine, remembering that there was an exposed space between the retrofitted cab and the front carriage. "Jump!" she hissed as soon as she was as close as she could get.

Zena's head appeared in the gap, and she squealed in excitement. "Kynnie! Assie!"

"Good to see you too, but move!" Kynigós shouted at her, and, obediently, the baby dragon retreated inside.

Another burst of machine gun fire heralded Lucy heading off the dragon once again. "Any day now!" Asuka shouted.

"I can't keep this up forever!" the other Fairy added from above.

Kynigós nodded, swallowed, and leapt from the bike's seat, throwing himself towards the open gap. His hand caught a pipe just inside the wall, and he struggled, scrabbling for purchase as the rocky ground sped by, inches beneath his boot.

And then a hand caught his. Grunting, Bellamy hauled the hunter inside, and, wheezing, Kynigós steadied himself on the back of the driver's seat as the pirate returned to driving the train. "Thanks," he grunted, and Bellamy nodded graciously.

Kynigós and Zena both peered out to look at Asuka. "I'll keep watch! You get on the roof and protect the train!" the tween hollered, and Kynigós saluted - and stiffened. Behind Asuka, Miach was gliding, low to the ground, alongside the train and fair enough away that she was out of Lucy's range, with her jaws open and building a breath attack that was pointed directly at them.

"Bellamy! Starboard!" The shout was a knee-jerk reaction, and, responding to the naval terminology, the pirate immediately swung the train to the right, away from the dragon. Asuka blinked, turning her head and following Kynigós' gaze, and froze, seeing the blue dragon about to attack.

Miach fired, white energy eclipsing everything Asuka saw as her doom approached.

And then a grappling hook caught her coat and pulled her straight out of the seat of her motorbike. As she screamed in shock, Kynigós used every fibre of his being to pull his friend through the air and into the train. Wobbling, the motorbike continued onwards until the flare of white energy met it, reducing it to scrap.

Everything seemed black to Kynigós as the attack made contact with the train; deathly light shining in through the windows. But as everything went quiet, he heard a high-pitched, yelping noise, and saw a pale shape leap in front of him and Asuka.

For a second, everything went white and green as two massive bursts of magic met and cancelled each other out.

And then the train powered through it, rattling onwards as Zena collapsed to the ground, clearly exhausted, and slid dangerously close to the edge. On instinct, Kynigós lunged forwards, grabbed her tail, and pulled the dragonet to safety.

Blinking, Asuka rubbed her eyes. "What _was_ that?" she questioned.

Looking at the unconscious little beast, Kynigós shook his head in disbelief. "I have no idea, but I think Zena just saved our lives,"

Bellamy watched this interaction, cocking a quizzical brow. "That dragon . ." He murmured, thinking.

Suddenly, he slammed on the brakes. The train ground to a halt, kicking up dust and dirt, and there was a protesting squeal of metal as it did.

"What are you doing?" Kynigós demanded, rounding on the pirate.

"You all need to survive," Bellamy flatly stated. "You, and that dragon you're caring for. You're the best hope that this world has of living through this apocalypse,"

"Yeah, and if you stop the train, you'll kill us all!" Asuka retorted.

"Get off!" Bellamy shouted, gesturing to the door. "If I set this train's engine to overheat, it'll explode. And a blast of that magnitude might just take that dragon out. I don't care anymore - there's nothing left for me. But you three have hope; you have a chance. That other dragon of yours will catch up soon, he'll protect you. I just have to do my bit," he declared, clambering out of the seat and, with a well-placed kick, smashed the coupling that held the engine of the Urano Metrion to the carriages. "Get off!" he repeated.

Asuka looked at Kynigós.

The hunter nodded. "There's nothing I can say that will change your mind, is there?"

"Nope," the man confirmed. "But do me a favour. If you ever find something that you treasure, hold it close and never let anyone take it away. Because every pirate needs something to treasure,"

Kynigós jumped off the train, the girls following him. "You got it,"

Bellamy shot him one last smile, before twisting the steering wheel and sending the engine of the train driving away, curving in its trajectory and making for the dragon.

Lucy leapt off the roof, watching them go, and standing next to the three. "What happened? What's Bellamy doing?" she asked.

"He's saving our lives," Kynigós solemnly told her.

"Hesha ash-hole," Zena agreed in equal deadpan.

The Urano Metrion's whistle blew loudly, attracting Miach's attention. The Prismatic Dragon stared down at the approaching vehicle, vaguely interested.

"Gather up all of the crew, it's time to ship out Binks' Brew," Bellamy quietly sang, his harsh voice sounding oddly musical as he resigned himself to his death. "Wave goodbye, but don't you cry, our memories remain,"

Back with the carriages, Kynigós mouthed the words too. "After all is said and done, you'll end up a skeleton,"

In the wind, Bellamy's pirate flag flew tall and proud, trailing from the funnel of the train as fire burst from its superheated pores, as he approached the beast. "So spread your tale from dawn 'till dusk upon these foamy seas," With a small sigh, Bellamy finished the final verse.

Crowding out of the train carriages, the inhabitants of the Urano Metrion watched as the burning train ate up the last few metres towards the dragon's prone underbelly. "Yohohoho, yo hoho ho, yohohoho, yo hoho ho," Kynigós quietly sang.

The explosion made everything seem dark by comparison, completely blocking the offending dragon from their view.

Amidst searing flames, Bellamy's flag blistered, fragmented, and turned to ash.

A/N

 **A/N**

 **Dragons are no match for the power of sea shanties, huh, Kynigos . . To be fair, anyone who's familiar with One Piece should know that when people start singing** ** _Binks' Brew_** **, someone's gonna die.**

 **I'll really miss Bellamy . . War.**


	9. What Kind Of Dumbass Would Join A Cult?

Log #9: What Kind Of Dumbass Would Join A Cult?

I hate everything.

Damn you, Bellamy. You just had to go and kill yourself to save all our lives.

The explosion didn't kill that dragon, by the way. But it did knock her out for long enough for Equivaton to catch up. And with his help, we all got out of there before she got back up.

Also, it seems like Zena's starting to tap into her own abilities. Equivaton can't even guess as to the nature of her powers, or even her magical alignment. He thinks it might be something to do with energy of some kind, though.

Also. I laugh every time she calls Asuka 'Assie'. Heh . . . we all need to laugh now and then. I've even stopped minding when she calls me 'Kynnie'.

Well, anyway. Remember I mentioned that I met this world's version of Lucy? From old Fairy Tail? Apparently she knows another group of survivors, holed up somewhere to the south. She's been giving us directions to find them.

I hope this doesn't end like Ghoulia did. But I have a bad feeling all the same . .

{Apo-C}

Equivaton stopped at the rise of a hill, and the two carriages he had been dragging with him for the last two weeks - ever since the loss of the Urano Metrion - trundled to a halt.

Lucy exited and ran up to join the Earth Dragon in looking down at the assortment of stone buildings sitting at the base of the hill. "Yep, this is it, alright," she confirmed.

Kynigós leapt from Equivaton's shoulder and joined her. "Tell me about this place, again?" he suggested.

"It used to be a Lacrima factory," Lucy shrugged. "But then the Dragon King Festival happened. So a bunch of survivors set up a kind of monastery here,"

"Excuse me? Did you just say 'monastery'?" Kynigós blinked.

"It sounds crazy, but yeah. It's led by a guy named Macbeth. They call themselves . . I don't remember the full title, but some kind of Order,"

Kynigós scoffed. "Tell me they aren't _monks_ ,"

"I assure you, that isn't the case," Both Fairy and Phoenix started and whirled to see that a man had appeared behind them. He was tall and had an arrogant expression in his eyes - at least, the single one that was visible. A mop of black hair covered most of the right side of his face, with a shock of white attached to the left side. He was wearing a coat that was mostly white, with a bird-like black symbol on his chest and a red lapel, all with gold trim. The man bowed his head, doing his best to avert his eyes from Kynigós' metal arm. "Greetings, travellers. Is this dragon an ally of yours?"

"What do you think?" Kynigós deadpanned as Equivaton regarded the newcomer in irritation. "This dragon can speak for himself, you know,"

"I don't doubt it," the strange man nodded.

"The _Urano Metrion_ was destroyed - we've been making our way here for the last two weeks. Please, can we join you and the Order?" Lucy asked, and the man raised his eyebrows. "The all-terrain train my brothers told me of? That is . . unfortunate," he admitted. "Of course you all may join us. The dragon in particular will be a welcome addition. Please, follow me," he declared, before running between them and making his way towards the town.

Lucy frowned. "There's something familiar about that guy. But I can't quite place it," she admitted.

"I think I like him," Kynigós grinned. "Come on, you big lizard! We're almost there!"

Equivaton growled in approval, and the two set off down the slope, towards the abandoned factory.

"Oi, wait up!" Lucy shouted, chasing after them.

{Apo-C}

Soon, the remnants of the Urano Metrion had been dumped outside and the inhabitants - with the exception of Astro, who was remaining on the train for reasons of paranoia - were being sheparded by the mysterious stranger into the halls of the repurposed factory.

Equivaton paused at - or, rather, above - the door. "Well, obviously I can't go in," he pointed out.

Kynigós hummed as Asuka looked down from his back. "Hold on! I'm coming down!" she declared, but the hunter held up a hand. "No, wait! I want to check this place out first,"

"So, what, you want me to wait here while you have all the fun?" Asuka demanded.

"I want you to take care of Zena. You're the only one I trust with her safety!" the Dragon Slayer hollered back.

Equivaton snorted, but didn't interrupt as Asuka mulled it over. "Alright, fine. But come and get me as soon as you decide it's safe!" she commanded, and Kynigós mock saluted. "You got it!" With that, he followed the trail of the train riders being led into the abandoned factory.

"I take it you two are the leaders?" the stranger asked, addressing Kynigós and Lucy.

"I suppose so, yeah," Lucy agreed, and Kynigós just rolled his eyes. "I'm no leader. But I guess people have to follow someone,"

"Too true," he agreed, stopping at a doorway, which he swung open to reveal a staircase that led downwards. "If the two of you will continue along this corridor, you will reach the quarters of our leader. I will take the rest of the people and continue to show them around,"

Kynigós frowned. He wasn't sure that this man could be trusted, but before he could protest, Lucy piped up. "Sounds good. Come on, Kynigós," she beckoned.

Grumbling, Kynigós accepted it and followed her. After all, it wasn't his problem if this bunch got killed.

And so the unknown man led the two further into the bowels of the building, and, surprisingly, _up_ a staircase and into what had obviously once been an administrative facility for the Lacrima factory. Now, though, a large, bright red door partitioned off part of the floor.

"So, how long have you been here? What's this place like?" Kynigós asked, pressing for information.

"I helped found this group," the stranger admitted. "Me and Macbeth are as close as brothers,"

". . Doesn't answer my question," Kynigós grumbled.

Suddenly, the door swung open, and a voice called; "Enter,"

Needing no further invitation, Lucy forged onwards, Kynigós cautiously following her.

They immediately found themselves in a large, somewhat garish study; which was surprisingly intact. Obviously great effort had been put into its maintenance; completely intact wooden panels, a crackling fireplace to the side, and a tall chair with its back turned to them.

"Well, who are you? The last rich man in the apocalypse?" Kynigós folded his arms.

The chair swung and revealed its inhabitant. "Hardly. I just quite like to put on a show for my guests," a young man with soft, curled black hair and dark eyes, wearing a brown coat encrusted with white fur, greeted them.

Lucy gasped, recognising him. "Midnight?" she demanded.

The man hummed thoughtfully. "So, it is you. Lucy Heartfilia of the Fairy Tail guild. And you, Pierce Blastreyne, of the -"

"Nope. Kynigós. Blastreyne died about three years ago, from what I've heard. I'm the version from Edolas. I'm stranded here," the hunter explained.

Macbeth blinked. "I see," he offered. "Now, Lucy. I know that we have had our differences in the past -"

"You tried to turn me into a giant, evil fish!" Lucy protested.

"What?" both Kynigós and the other man in the room asked, incredulous. Neither of them had heard that story.

"But that is in the past, and I believe that we must _all_ unite now if we can hope to fight back against the draconian oppression," the former member of the Oracion Och finished. "And I shed that title long ago - I would prefer if you were to call me by my actual name; Macbeth," he requested.

Lucy raised a suspicious eyebrow at him, before nodding. "You have a point," she conceded.

"So, will you get bygones be bygones for the greater good?" Macbeth checked, and Lucy nodded. "Of course. The present is what's important,"

"I'm glad to hear you say that. Because my friends and I in the Order of the Dragon's Prayer -"

"Hold on. The what?" Kynigós interrupted.

"Our little community here. The Order of the Dragon's Prayer," Macbeth clarified.

"That is the second time you have said that, and the second time I have failed to comprehend why you don't realise how _stupid_ that name sounds," the hunter huffily folded his arms.

"We chose that name because when we're done, the dragons will pray to us for mercy," the other man gruffly stated, and Kynigós raised an eyebrow. "Hmm,"

"When you're done? With what?" Lucy asked.

Macbeth pursed his lips. "I don't believe that there is no hope for humanity," he stated. "The global situation is dire. I admit it. But the fact of the matter is, the world has been in a state like this before, and last time, it gave rise to the greatest era humanity has ever experienced. Four hundred years ago, Dragons ruled the earth. And the only reason they stopped was because humans learned how to use magic that could kill dragons,"

"Well, yes, but Dragon Slayers only existed because dragons themselves taught humans to fight. And after Acnologia, even the dragons who sympathise with humans will never do that again," Lucy pointed out.

"Who says we need dragons? Technology has advanced, and we no longer require the patronship of their kind," Macbeth shook his head.

The Fairy blinked. ". . What does that mean?"

Kynigós was only barely following the conversation. "Hold on. Are you saying that you want people to learn magic that only dragons can teach them - _without dragons_?"

"Have you ever heard of a Dragon Lacrima?" Macbeth asked.

Lucy blinked, suddenly at a loss for words.

"No," Kynigós deadpanned.

"It's a special kind of Lacrima. If it's implanted in a person's body - with the correct procedures, of course - it will allow them to use Dragon Slayer magic. No dragon required," the young man explained.

". . No fucking way," Kynigós blinked, suddenly understanding the possibilities. A squadron - no, an _army_ of Dragon Slayers? No dragon could stand up to an onslaught like that.

"There's only one problem," Macbeth sighed. "The Dragon Lacrimas were the invention of my deceased father, and I have been having . . trouble replicating his work,"

"Oh," Kynigós' excitement fell flat, and Lucy groaned. "I knew it was too good to be true,"

"But that is where I come in," the other man, who had led them to Macbeth, spoke up, and both looked at the man with his black/white hair. "I'm not surprised that you don't recognise me, Lucy. It has been a while since the X791 Grand Magic Games, and we only ever met in passing. But I'm sure you remember the Twin Dragons of Sabertooth? The world's only Third Generation Dragon Slayers, who were both taught by a dragon and possess a Dragon Lacrima to boost their power?"

And suddenly Lucy made the connection. "Of course. It's you," she remembered why the man looked familiar.

He nodded, smiling. "Ryos 'Rogue' Cheney, Black Dragon of Sabertooth. At your service,"

"And, more importantly, he is the only living person on the planet who possesses a functioning Dragon Lacrima. It's through observing him that I am attempting to replicate my father's work," Macbeth explained. "So, Lucy, Kynigós. Will you join us in our efforts? Help us to save the world?"

As one, the two veterans grinned. "You can count on me," Kynigós agreed.

"I'm not sure what I can do, but if you need anything, I'll be there," Lucy confirmed.

Ryos nodded, and Macbeth smiled. "I'm glad to hear that,"

{Apo-C}

Equivaton frowned, hearing noises from inside the train. "What's going on there?" he frowned, crouching and peering at the two carriages.

"This has been fun but I need to get back to my bunker! So bye!" Astro shouted from inside.

"What? But . ." Equivaton trailed off, hearing a motor rumbling inside one of the carriages, which promptly took off, chugging their way away from the factory. "I thought that without the part that exploded those couldn't move . . oh, whatever," he sighed.

"I'm sorry, but I just can't trust that none of you will kill me in my sleep! So goodbye!" a distant voice called.

"I'll . . pass on the message," Equivaton resolved, wondering if Astro was even talking to him or just shouting inanely.

"Crazy man," Zena solemnly observed, and Equivaton chuckled. "Very true,"

{Apo-C}

Before long, Ryos had led them all to what he explained to be the mess hall . . which looked oddly festive; red and green streamers were strewn along much of the wall and around the doors, holly wreaths were hanging everywhere, and a large tree was in the centre.

"What the heck?" Lucy blinked, scratching her head.

"What is this place, Santa's workshop?" Kynigós deadpanned.

"Close," Ryos admitted. "You two haven't kept track of the date, have you?"

"We've been living out of an off-road train for years," Lucy pointed out.

"It was November when I left Ghoulia, and that was a month and a half ago, so . ." Kynigós shrugged.

"It's December 18. We're only a week away from Christmas," the Dragon Slayer explained.

". . . You have Christmas here?" Lucy blinked, sounding surprised. "I haven't celebrated Christmas in years," she muttered reverentially.

Kynigós frowned. With all the time travel, dates had become somewhat meaningless - to his skewed perception of time, it had been Christmas just three months ago. But, of course, he was the anomaly here, not everyone else, so he shrugged. "Alright,"

"This is going to be so lovely. Celebrating Christmas with all my friends, and even people I knew before like you and Asuka," Lucy dreamily smiled at Ryos, before pausing. "Wait, Kynigós. Didn't Asuka want you to go get her if it was safe?" she frowned, looking at the hunter, who blinked. "Oh yeah, she did," he mused. "Alright, back in a 'mo,"

{Apo-C}

However, while the newcomers were welcomed to the Order of the Dragon's Prayer, Macbeth was descending, via an elevator, into the bowels of the factory.

There was a cheerful 'ding' as the elevator stopped, and his foot swung outwards, crunching on gravel. Macbeth looked up, and his eyes raked the room, taking in the dirtied stone walls with their large, ornamental archways.

An assembly of humans clad in shapeless black cloaks greeted him. One raised his arms reverentially and led; "All hail the final Prayer!" On a clearly prearranged cue, the other thirty or so present repeated, "All hail the final Prayer,"

"Thank you. Now, is it ready?" Macbeth demanded of the congregation's lead speaker as he walked through the crowd, who bowed to him.

"Indeed, sir," the man confirmed, gesturing upwards, and smiled.

A massive dais dominated the room, embalmed with chains and repurposed factory equipment. All of which was being used to hold in place a small, black dragoness with wings and ruffs coated in lush, petal-like pink feathers. Hydraulic arms were wrapped around her limbs, pinning them, and a clamp had been affixed to her snout to prevent her from roaring. Her eyes were closed, and her head slumped to the ground.

"Has it woken?" Macbeth questioned, and the speaker bowed again. "Only once, my Prayer, and we quickly doubled the dosage of the sedative. It has been dormant since,"

"Excellent," Prince nodded, moving to a circular central platform, with a control board on top of it, along with a single, crystalline, drinking glass.

He span, and gazed at the congregation. "We are gathered here, one and all, to advance the salvation of humanity. The power of our oppressors will lead to a new dawn! The Dragon's Prayer will be the world's salvation!" Macbeth declared, to resounding cheers from the assembly.

"But first, our power must be taken. And so must our vengeance," Macbeth growled, glaring up at the incarcerated dragoness. "We've all lost people to the scourge of the dragons," Sorano's face briefly swam in his mind. "And now? We'll take something from them!" With that, he pulled a lever on his control board, to resounding cheers from the crowd.

But all went silent, everyone wanting to hear the sound, as a massive blade erupted from the dais and cut cleanly through the dragon's soft underbelly.

And then it whirred into life, splitting the injury open, causing massive gouts of blood to leak from the corpse and feed into two pipes. One of the funnels gushed the blood into a container for storage, which Macbeth could use for his experiments. The other led into a massive, circular water trough directly beneath his plinth. A trickle of blood fed directly into the chalice next to Macbeth.

Everyone formed a pair of lines leading to the trough of blood as the dark wizard scooped up the cup. "Drink," he declared, and in one great draught, swallowed the pint.

Each of the men followed him, withdrawing a cup from the folds of their robe. In pairs, each dipped their cup into the vat of blood, before moving aside and drinking it.

{Apo-C}

"Man," Asuka muttered as Kynigós led her into the festive common room. "This place is really something,"

"Yeah. I can't wait until Christmas," the Dragon Slayer agreed.

A/N

 **A/N**

 **Poor Blackrose . . couldn't find a good way to mention it in the story, but that's the name of the dragoness who Macbeth killed . . yeah, Apocrypha's villains aren't all dragons.**

 **Also, early update! That's because I'm going to be very busy tomorrow, when I'd normally update. So I may or may not have enough time tomorrow, but why take the chance when, instead, I can just put this up a day early? War!**


	10. Goddamn Apocalypse!

Log #10: Goddamn Apocalypse!

Hey, journal?

I really hope this isn't a jinx of some kind, but I really am feeling good about our present situation.

Sure, we're holed up underground again. But I'm an Earth Dragon Slayer now, so that doesn't bother me so much. The big lizard's outside, minding Zena and watching the sky. I'm keeping up my training with him, though.

And this Macbeth fellow (the leader of the 'Order of the Dragon's Prayer' - heh. I still can't say that without laughing) is working on making Dragon Lacrimas. Apparently, if any old human is implanted with them, they'll gain the ability to use Dragon Slayer magic. Which is all kinds of crazy. And Macbeth says that he's really close, too! Soon, we'll have an army of Dragon Slayers, and he's roped me and Ryos, as the only experienced Dragon Slayers, in to teach the noobs how it's done. I just couldn't say no to something like that. I know, I'm getting soft . . .

Anyway. I really hope this turns out better that that Doroma Anim thing that old King Faust had back in Edolas. That thing was just trouble; every time it fired up there was hell to pay.

Y'now, I actually haven't thought about Edolas, or my old guildmates, in weeks, if not months! It's always been the here and now, surviving another day with Zena, Equivaton and Asuka. It's weird, but I've _almost_ stopped missing my old friends in Phoenix's Eye.

It could be that I'm just starting to crack under the pressure, though. On an unrelated note, Merry Christmas!

{Apo-C}

Indeed, Kynigós reflected as he closed his journal and tucked it back into the omnipresent hunter's pack with his metal arm, 'Merry Christmas' was the watchword of the day.

The headquarters of the Order of the Dragon's Prayer was drowning in red and green. Men and women of all ages were looking festive, and apparently Macbeth had even been sighted in a red Santa hat.

Kynigós couldn't picture it.

The odd thing, though? There were no children in the disused factory: Asuka, at twelve, was the youngest person there. Not, of course, counting Zena. But all the grown men and women in the facility were certainly acting like children; everyone pulled together to make Christmas of the year X797 something great.

"Hey, Kynigós?" The hunter turned to see Lucy nearby. "Did you hear?"

"That it's Christmas?" Kynigós gestured to the assortment of red and green surrounding them. "I noticed,"

"Come on, where's your Christmas spirit?" Lucy questioned, smiling - a rare expression for her.

"I never like it when things get too easy. It just means the next bad thing will be that much worse," Kynigós shrugged.

"Hey. Lighten up, will you?" the Fairy asked, producing another red Santa hat and making to place it on his brow.

Kynigós swatted the offending piece of fabric away. "Where do you all keep getting those?"

"There's a Clothmake wizard somewhere here," Lucy shrugged. "The point is, not everything in the word wants to kill you," she pointed out. "It's okay to loosen up once in a while,"

Kynigós regarded her thoughtfully, before whipping out his hunter's rifle. Lucy flinched, but relaxed as he produced a cloth and started to some some accumulated dirt from the barrel. "Just so you know, this is about as relaxed as I get," he huffed.

Lucy decided to count this as a win and back away - before turning back to him, recalling why she had spoken to him in the first place. "Oh, wait. I just remembered. Macbeth wanted me to tell you something,"

"And that would be?" Kynigós asked, raising an eyebrow.

"He thinks he has a working prototype Dragon Lacrima ready to go. He wants to test it tomorrow, and he wants you and Ryos on hand in case something goes wrong,"

"Alright - wait, tomorrow? Christmas Day?" Kynigós blinked. "But, what about the celebrations?"

Lucy snorted. "No, silly. The test will be part of the celebrations. He wants to make a big event out of it,"

A wry smile played across his lips, and he looked down, not wanting Lucy to see it. "That guy," the hunter shook his head. "Alright," Kynigós agreed. "I'll be there,"

{Apo-C}

"Hey, that cloud looks like a lollipop," Asuka observed.

The gunslinger was lying on her back, just outside, with Equivaton and Zena, and the baby, who was also gazing up, squealed in curiosity.

"Right, you wouldn't know what those are . . . hey, Equivaton? Do dragons have candy?" Asuka shouted.

"You mean sugary sweets? Of course we do. It's a bit different to your processed junk, though," the Earth Dragon rumbled.

"Now I want to try some," Asuka chuckled.

"No. You don't have the jaw strength. Our jawbreakers are literal," the older dragon chuckled.

Asuka hummed. "You know, I never thought I'd say this, but I really like being around the two of you,"

"I appreciate you saying that," Equivaton amicably replied.

"Heh. It's like we're all a big family, huh?" the gunslinger chuckled. "You're the daddy, Kynigós is the big brother, I'm the middle child and Zena's the baby," Zena chirped at the mention of her name.

Equivaton was silent for a few moments. ". . . That cloud looks like a boulder," he grunted.

Asuka exhaled. Perhaps that had been a little too intimate for the Earth Dragon. "And that one looks like a chicken drumstick," she chorused.

"I like chickens," the large dragon mused.

"Me too," Zena smacked her lips, and Asuka chuckled. Zena really was getting the hang of talking. It was nice, watching her grow.

{Apo-C}

The next day dawned bright and early, and it wasn't long before the hundred-odd members of the Order of the Dragon's Prayer were all gathered in the common room.

"This is exciting, huh?" Lucy asked, and Asuka nodded. "I just hope they don't drink too much. Mum was always worse when she was drunk,"

"Hey. It's Christmas. Let them have fun," Lucy smiled.

Meanwhile, Kynigós and Ryos were waiting in the wings of a wooden stage that had been erected for the festivities.

"So," Kynigós awkwardly prompted.

"What is it?" Ryos questioned.

"I've been meaning to ask, but never really found a good time . ." the hunter awkwardly began.

"Just spit it out," the Sabertooth huffed.

"What the hell is up with your hair?" Kynigós demanded, eyeing the mop of black that covered his missing right eye, and the spikes of white that crowned his left.

"It changed after my dying brother gave me his Holy Dragon Slayer magic," Ryos flatly explained.

Kynigós blinked. ". . . Oh,"

"Eh. It was a couple of years ago. I'm over it," he grumbled.

The other Dragon Slayer nodded, accepting this.

"What happened to your arm?" Ryos suddenly asked.

Surprised by the question, Kynigós glanced at his prosthetic metal left arm. He'd had it since before his guild was destroyed . . "I was a hunter before everything went to shit. The best there was. Unfortunately, a title like that comes with a price," he shrugged.

"So, it got bitten off by some kind of wild animal?" the dark man snorted.

Kynigós shook his head. "Naah. I got stung by a deadly scorpion. There was no cure. So I cut off the arm with all the poison in it before it could spread to the rest of my body,"

Ryos digested this. "You sacrificed something important to you to save your own life," he mused. "That demonstrates strength of character. I approve,"

The hunter looked uncomfortable with the praise. "It was just an arm," he shrugged. "I got another,"

"I'm glad to see you two getting along," Both Dragon Slayers turned to see Macbeth, as well as another man, maybe forty, with a beard and a receding hairline, wearing a black cloak draped over his shoulders, approaching them. "This is Murphy. He's going to be the test subject today,"

"Yeah, great. Let's get this over with, okay?" the man grumbled, striding forwards and taking little notice of the two.

Kynigós eyed him curiously. "Are we sure we want this guy to be the test subject? he quietly asked Macbeth.

"Let me put it this way. If something goes wrong and he dies, it's no great loss to humanity," the Prayer quietly pointed out.

"I can live with that," Ryos interjected.

"Now, are the two of you ready? We don't want to keep the audience waiting," Macbeth reasoned.

"Any time," Kynigós confirmed, and Ryos nodded.

"Excellent," And, without further ado, Macbeth pushed through the curtain, presenting himself to the crowd, who immediately fell silent as he appeared on the stage.

"Merry Christmas, my friends," he quietly spoke. The crowd hung on his every word.

"Wow. He's good," Lucy murmured to Asuka, and someone nearby elbowed her. "Shush,"

"As you all know, for years I have been tirelessly working to recreate my father's legacy; a fully functional Dragon Lacrima. And, with the aid of my friends, I have finally succeeded!" he crowed, holding up a small, spherical object.

The crowd went wild, whooping and cheering with all their might.

"Are you buying this crap?" Kynigós turned, startled, to see Murphy leering at him. "Look at him. They're eating out of the palm of his hand," he grumbled.

"But before I show you what it can do, I'd like to personally thank two very close friends of mine, who this success wouldn't be possible without. Everybody, please welcome Ryos, the Shadow Dragon Slayer!" Ryos stepped out from behind the curtain, and the crowd cheered for him.

Kynigós folded his arms at Murphy. "Yeah? Well, you'r the one who's putting his ass on the line by letting him put that thing inside you," he pointed out.

"Touché," the man grunted.

"And Kynigós, the Earth Dragon Slayer!" Hearing his cue, Kynigós followed suit, and spotted Asuka, cheering loudest of all for him. Swallowing, he held back an affectionate smile. He _really_ should not get attached . . .

"But that's enough," With that simple statement, the room was silent. "There will be plenty of time to celebrate after the test. Murphy? If you will?" Macbeth beckoned, and, looking even more surly than usual, the bearded man emerged on stage.

"You should feel honoured, Murphy," Macbeth stated as he turned to the older man, clutching the Dragon Lacrima between his fingers. "You're about to make history,"

"Yeah. That's great. Can we get this over with so we can get to the booze already?" Murphy requested, to a few chuckles from the crowd.

"As you wish. Your arm?" the Och member politely requested, and, obligingly, Murphy rolled up his sleeve and presented his left arm. "Just make it fast," he commanded.

"Gladly," Suddenly wielding a scalpel, Macbeth grasped the man's arm in an iron grip and made an incision adjacent to, but not touching, the artery. And then he pressed the Lacrima into the wound, as Murphy cried out in pain, before slapping what looked like a large bandage made of artificial skin over the injury.

Kynigós gulped. He was happy to have been taught by a dragon, rather than . . that. Absence of the necessary limb notwithstanding.

"Tell me, Murphy. How do you feel?" Macbeth pressed as Murphy clutched at the wound, feeling the graft adhere to his skin.

"Like someone just cut my arm open and stuffed a piece of glass into it. Also, _ow_!" the man spat.

"Well, I suppose it might take a couple of hours before you begin to show signs," Macbeth seemed disappointed, but shrugged.

Suddenly, Murphy hiccuped. Kynigós drew back, wary, as a couple of people giggled at the unexpected high-pitched noise.

However the giggle developed into a throaty cough, and soon Murphy was doubled over, clutching at his throat and chest.

"Everyone stand back!" Kynigós warned, a hand resting on the butt of his gun.

Murphy reared up, a bellow echoing from his throat, and everyone present watched in fascinated revulsion as his nails spontaneously erupted into sharp-looking claws, and his hair started to fall out, drifting to the ground in matted clumps.

Kynigós whipped out his gun and took aim, but Macbeth clutched the end of the barrel, covering it with his palm. "No! Wait," he hissed.

As if on cue, Murphy seemed to quiet, breathing heavily and twitching his new claws. Kynigós nervously eyed a set of vestigial horns that had replaced the hair now lying in matted chunks around his feet.

Cautiously, Macbeth approached the man. "Murphy? How do you feel?" he asked, touching the man on the shoulder.

A rumbling sigh echoed from his lips, and Murphy turned. Kynigós got a glimpse of feral, yellow eyes, and he hissed; "Hungry,"

And then he lunged forwards, baring sharpening fangs, and bit straight through Macbeth's cloak, his fangs cutting into the skin and leaving a bloody gash.

Immediately, the crowd went into a panic. Murphy looked up with a guttural growl, and snarled, glaring at Kynigós.

Suddenly, his mouth filled with blood and lead. Kynigós snorted dispassionately as Murphy collapsed backwards. "Drama queens," the hunter huffed.

A dull moan echoed from Macbeth, and Ryos hastened towards his friend. "Macbeth? Are you alright?" he questioned, using one arm to hoist up the injured man.

"I . . I feel," Macbeth moaned in discomfort, and Ryos turned him and stared into his face. "Hungry," he finished as his eyes turned yellow and he twisted, sinking his sharpening teeth into Ryos' hand.

"What the hell?" Kynigós questioned, seeing what had happened to the leader, as Ryos shook him free. "Ugh. Whatever's happened, it seems to be infectious, transferred through bites, and gives people an overpowering desire to eat human flesh," Ryos observed.

Kynigós nodded, but turned in shock as Murphy picked himself up, growling, in spite of the hole in the back of his head. "What? How is he not dead?" he demanded, shooting him again, this time in the heart. "Hold on, you got bit!" he exclaimed, tuning the gun on Ryos, who shook his head. "No. This disease is based on Dragon magic. As Dragon Slayers, we should be immune,"

Kynigós nodded, but gulped as Murphy recovered again, taking no heed of what should be a fatal injury. "Crap," he gritted his teeth, and ducked back behind the stage's curtain. After a second, Ryos joined him. "They're still walking," he reported.

"They should be dead!" Kynigós exclaimed. "What the hell happened?"

"It seems like the corrupted magic is also animating their bodies," Ryos observed, swallowing his confusion and terror. "Macbeth did say something about including a fail-safe in case the bearer of a Lacrima died . . this must be it,"

"You're telling me that he's made Dragon Slayer _zombies_?" Kynigós demanded.

Ryos paused, at a loss for words, and as he did, both suddenly realised something. "Wait. They're not coming after us," he muttered.

Kynigós remembered the crowd that had been pushing and shoving in an attempt to escape. "Oh, no," he growled, peering through the curtain.

His fears were confirmed; Murphy and Macbeth, as well as what looked like at least

half a dozen more draco-zombies, were savaging the stragglers from the crowd.

"I need to find Asuka," Kynigós growled. Suddenly, a thought struck him, and he pulled the Vivre Card, the little scrap of paper Asuka has given him, from his pocket and held it in his cupped hands.

"What's that?" Ryos asked.

"It's a Vivre Card. It's supposed to help me find her if we're separated," Kynigós explained, and, sure enough, the paper started twitching and inching in a direction to their left. The hunter grinned. "This way," he declared, gesturing to a doorway that was crawling with draco-zombies.

"You realise that that path is blocked, don't you?" Ryos questioned.

"It is?" Kynigós asked, looking again. Nope, just zombies. "Don't worry. I'm sure this won't be a problem,"

{Apo-C}

Equivaton growled. Something wasn't right. He was hearing strange noises inside the building, and he didn't know what the cause was. It might have been his imagination, but it almost sounded like . . dragons.

Zena snuffled inquisitively, burying herself between his wings, and Equivaton adjusted his muscles to better cover her. "Don't worry, I'll protect you," he rumbled, and the dragonet mewed in approval.

A/N

 **A/N**

 **Uh-oh . . .**

 **Can anyone guess what show the character of Murphy was borrowed from? I'll give you a hint; I was in a real zombie-ish mood after watching it. The title's also a small reference to it. ;)**

 **War.**


	11. How Are We Going To Survive This?

Log #11: How Are We Going To Survive This?

What did I do to deserve this?

Everything I touch turns to ruin. The four of us - me, Equivaton, Zena and Asuka - have been together for more than two months now. And I guess Lucy's officially joined our little club too. Maybe Ryos as well. I'm still not really sure where I stand with him.

Phoenix's Eye - both Phoenix's Eyes, Ghoulia, the Urano Metrion, and now this place? I just don't understand. Maybe I'm just destined to be alone.

But no. Thus far, I've managed to keep my closest family alive. The big lizard, Asuka, my little sister. And as long as blood runs in my veins, they're gonna stay that way.

Asuka once told me that I shouldn't be asking "How am _I_ going to survive this?" but rather "How are _we_ going to survive this?" And she was right.

We are going to survive.

{Apo-C}

Asuka and Lucy ducked into a closet, dodging out of the direction that the crowd was pushing.

"Okay. What the hell was that?" Asuka demanded, breathing heavily.

"I guess Macbeth's Dragon Slayer pill has a few side effects," Lucy observed.

"It turned that man into a raging monster," the gunslinger snorted. "That's not a 'side effect',"

There was a sudden shriek from not far away from their closet, and the two stiffened. Her heart pounding like a jackhammer, Asuka leant against the door and pressed her eye to the crack, peering outside. She had to know what was going on. Behind her, the taller Fairy followed suit.

A woman they both vaguely recognised was tearing, with sharp, draconian teeth and black claws, at an obviously-dead man, whose chest had been ripped open. The two barely repressed a gasp, but watched in horror. The more the former human tore meat out of the corpse, the more her body contorted; claws growing sharper and more pronounced, skull elongating into a draconian muzzle, and even a set of vestigial black horns starting to appear through her hair.

Asuka swallowed a shriek.

The two women remained whisper-silent as the former human finished its meal, before abandoning the carcass, sniffing . . and turning towards their closet. With shaking hands, Asuka reached for her gun, keeping as quiet as possible, and rested a finger on the safety and another on the trigger. Lucy inched backwards, giving the armed tween room to work.

And there was a distant shout; "Earth Dragon's Roar!" There was a skittering noise, and a few tiny rocks skittered in through the cracks, before dissipating into ethernano. Asuka peered out again as soon as the rocky shards dissipated, and saw Kynigós. His gun was sheathed, and his fists - flesh and metal alike - were glowing with orange energy.

"Kynigós!" Asuka exclaimed in delight, pushing the door open and leaping for him. Kynigós turned, catching sight of her, and his eyes widened. "Get down!" As soon as the command processed, Asuka dropped to the ground, throwing herself towards the hunter's feet, and Kynigós lunged forwards, stepping over her and shouting; "Earth Dragon's Titanic Fist!" With a burst of Earth magic, he jettisoned the dracozombified women back down the corridor.

"What's happening?" Asuka asked, picking herself up and staying behind Kynigós, clutching her gun with quivering hands. Looking around, she spotted Ryos catching up, with a couple of other infected humans on his heels, as Lucy climbed out of the closet.

"We're leaving," Kynigós declared. "And don't bother with that, it won't help,"

"What are you talking about?" the gunslinger questioned, shutting off the safety and shooting their assailant in the throat. She stumbled backwards, shook her head, and charged again. "What the hell?" Asuka demanded.

"They're basically zombies," Kynigós snorted. "Earth Dragon's Stone Spires!" he declared, stomping his foot on the ground and causing a crown of stone spikes to erupt from floor to ceiling, trapping the draco-zombie. "Come on!" he shouted, powering down the corridor as Ryos reached them. The other three hastily followed him.

"I've an idea!" Ryos declared, accelerating and overtaking Kynigós. "There's a secret exit. Follow me!" he commanded, taking the next left at the corridor. The other three were hot on his heels, Lucy trailing behind as the younger Asuka and more athletic Kynigós overtook her.

There was a snarling noise, and a sudden, stabbing pain in her hand. Lucy screamed, and the other three span.

A dracozombie had leapt out of the right-hand passage and sunk its jaws into Lucy's wrist. Even now, it was gnawing furiously. The blonde continued to scream.

Like lightning, Kynigós smashed the mutant away from her, before inspecting the injury. "Oh no oh no I'm gonna become like them I'm gonna - Lucy babbled as Kynigós fished inside his pack, before her sentence was suddenly cut off by a fresh scream.

Light flashed off the silver knife in Kynigós' hand as Lucy's arm, severed at the shoulder with a clean cut, collapsed to the ground. Taking short, gasping breaths, Lucy almost began to hyperventilate, staring at the stump where her right arm had been.

"Hopefully it didn't have time to spread," Kynigós was ready with a bandage, quickly tying up the wound. Seeing that Lucy was on the verge of collapsing into hysteria, he slapped her. With his flesh arm, luckily. "Quiet. We need to keep moving," he commanded, before using his other arm to punch the attacking zombie into the wall. Meekly, Lucy nodded, her eyes darting between her bloodsoaked severed limb and Kynigós' face. Groaning, the hunter grabbed her arm and pulled her with him as they rushed to catch up with Ryos and Asuka.

Soon, Ryos spotted a steel door on the right. Forcing it open with sheer brute strength, the Shadow Dragon Slayer swung inside. Lucy didn't hesitate to follow him, but Kynigós and Asuka paused, exchanging a glance. "He's been here longer than us, he probably knows it better," Asuka pointed out.

Kynigós nodded, and followed them through the hatch. "But he was also partly responsible for this mess to begin with. I just hope we can trust him," he pointed out, but his protest fell on deaf ears as Ryos led them down a ladder.

"W-why are we going further underground?" Lucy asked, trying to distract herself from the horror of losing a limb. "We need to get to the surface,"

"First we must destroy this facility," Ryos pointed out. "Think about it. If this plague spreads beyond the Order of the Dragon's Prayer, eventually it'll infect every living being in Earth Land,"

"Except the dragons?" Asuka pointed out.

"Except the dragons," Ryos allowed. "But all else will perish - including the last vestiges of humanity,"

"Well, congrats. You and your friends just caused a _second apocalypse_ ," Kynigós deadpanned as they reached the bottom of the ladder.

Ryos nodded grimly. "Yes, we did. But we might be able to do something about this one,"

"What do you have in mind?" Asuka inquisitively asked, and Ryos gestured around them. "This is the old processing plant," he explained, observing the massive amounts of machinery. "If we cause the roof of this place to cave in, the entire facility will be destroyed, along with everyone inside,"

"But won't that kill all of us, too? As well as everyone else who isn't infected and hasn't gotten out?" Asuka frowned.

"Well, we should have enough time to escape," Ryos assured her. "And sometimes, you have to make sacrifices,"

The other three looked at him oddly.

"What the hell do you mean by that?" Kynigós demanded.

"We aren't going to kill all the other people in here just so that we can try to contain this virus," Asuka agreed.

"It might not work anyway, how do you know that some of them won't have gotten outside by the time it blows?" Lucy suddenly challenged. "Then we'll have killed a bunch of people for nothing!"

"Well, we mustn't just let them loose!" Ryos retorted. "It's for the greater good. Sacrifices have to be made. You know what I'm talking about, right?" he appealed to Kynigós. "You didn't even hesitate to cut off her arm to save her life," he reminded them all, gesturing to Lucy, who looked ill at the thought.

The blond man folded his arms. "I am a _hunter_ ," he stressed the word. "I respect the beings that I kill. There's no honour, no dignity in something like this. The factory collapses and everything dies. That's not fair. The people here deserve better. I won't go through with this," he declared, putting his foot down.

Ryos looked between the three of them, gritting his teeth.

"Come on, let's go," Lucy beckoned the other two. "The exit can't be far," she declared, picking a direction and leading on. Without hesitation, Kynigós and Asuka followed her.

Ryos watched them go, his eyebrow twitching. ". . . Fine!" he snapped, following them. "What do I care? I'm immune! The rest of the world can just die!"

The three survivors paused as he pushed past them. "Exit's this way," the man gruffly informed them, gesturing to a ladder on the other side of the factory floor.

Kynigós grinned. They'd gotten through to him.

But as they crossed the underground factory floor, he detected an odd scent. "That's odd," he mused, looking around. "I smell dragon blood,"

"You must be mistaken. Come on, we've almost reached it," Ryos gestured to the ladder. Without hesitation, Asuka and Lucy rushed towards it. But Kynigós was reluctant. "I'm sure I smell something," he declared, before pinning down a direction. "This way," he declared, moving towards a side wing.

"Where are you going?" Asuka questioned, jumping down from the ladder and pursuing him.

"We haven't time for this! We need to move!" Ryos declared, realising where Kynigós was going.

Kynigós rounded a corner and drew up short, a horrified light entering his eyes. Asuka passed him, looking in the same direction, before comprehending what she saw. Her jaw dropped. "Ryos? What is this?"

Resigned, Ryos joined them. "That is an element of Macbeth's experiments,"

Before them, lying prostrate on a dais, was the emancipated corpse, still covered in dried blood, of a dead dragoness. Kynigós looked around, observing all the machinery that had been set up, including the tank of stored dragon blood.

"You were using dragon blood?" Lucy demanded on the verge of hysteria, and the three turned to her in surprise.

"What are you talking about?" Kynigós frowned.

"Don't you know what happened to Acnologia? The reason he's so powerful? He was a human Dragon Slayer! But he got so powerful - because he bathed in the blood of the dragons he killed - that he turned into a dragon! What the hell did you think was going to happen if you used the same stuff?!"

Kynigós blinked. "Bathing in the blood of a dragon turns you into one?" he gulped, considering this and remembering the time when he'd been soaked in Kixezen's blood.

"Well, I was not using it," Ryos shrugged.

"You know, I almost wish I could say that I disapprove," Asuka murmured, gazing up at the deceased dragoness.

"What do you mean?" Kynigós asked. But he could guess.

"You killed a dragon. Even just one . . it's amazing. Very few humans have managed such a thing before," the gunslinger murmured. "But, at the same time . . this feels wrong,"

"You know what? I believe we ought to argue about this at a time when we aren't liable to be killed by zombie dragons," Ryos snapped, irritated by the discourse.

Kynigós nodded. "He's right," He took one last glance at the corpse, and clenched his fist. "But this is not going to happen again. It's an insult to the hunt. To _everything_ that I believe in. And it dies with the Order of the Dragon's Prayer,"

Asuka stifled a chuckle, and the other three glanced at her. "What? I still can't take that name seriously!"

{Apo-C}

Eventually, they reached the top of the escape ladder. Kynigós emerged first, and the hunter was gratified to find that it opened outside the complex.

Ryos was next to emerge. "Hate to admit it, but that's a good escape route," the hunter allowed him, and his fellow Dragon Slayer nodded his appreciation as they helped Asuka and Lucy out of the hatch.

"Equivaton should be in that direction," Kynigós orienteered. "If we can meet up with him, he'll get us out of here," he ascertained, leading the charge.

Ryos looked uncomfortable with this turn of events, but nodded, forging ahead.

It wasn't long until they rounded a corner, and, sure enough the two dragons came into view. "There they are!" Asuka exclaimed, jubilant.

"Hey! Big lizard!" Kynigós hollered, cupping his hands around his mouth. "Get your ass in gear, we gotta leave!"

Equivaton pricked up his ears, looking around and quickly spotting the approaching survivors. He nodded, scooping up Zena and dropping her between his wings. "What's going on?" the Earth Dragon roared across the plains.

A moment later, the four wizards reached him. Kynigós and Asuka immediately scrambled up his leg and onto his back. "Macbeth started a zombie apocalypse," the hunter growled, as Asuka looked at Lucy and Ryos inquisitively. "Are you coming?"

Lucy nodded, reaching upwards and starting to climb. Asuka helped hoist her up. "Are you quite certain about this?" Ryos questioned, looking apprehensive.

Behind them, the main doors into the factory complex suddenly exploded, and dozens of dracozombies poured out, immediately locking onto the dragon and his passengers.

A rope hung from Kynigós pack, down Equivaton's flank and towards the other Dragon Slayer. "It's us or them. Take your pick,"

Rogue grumbled, but grabbed the rope and started to climb.

"What are those things?" Equivaton gasped in horror, eyeing the approaching creatures.

"They're humans infected with corrupted Dragon Slayer Magic," Lucy explained, and Kynigós scoffed. "Does it matter? Run!"

Ryos had only barely made it to Equivaton's broad backside when the dragon, lashing his tail to deter pursuit, took off across the plains. Like a wave, the zombies pursued, driven out of their minds by the overwhelming need to _feed_ , their bodies animated by the corrupted magic.

"They're gaining on us!" Asuka shouted.

"Not if I've got anything to say about it!" Kynigós snapped, spinning and running down Equivaton's broad backside. "Earth Dragon's Roar!" he hollered, launching a maelstrom of spinning rocks at their assailants.

"Shadow Dragon's Roar!" Ryos joined him in his attempts to deter the pursuit. But from up on Equivaton's back, they were too far away for the attacks to have any effect.

"Why don't you fly?" the Shadow Dragon Slayer demanded, glaring back at the Earth Dragon.

"He can't," Asuka explained from where Zena was clutching her.

"Old wound," Kynigós gruffly confirmed as Equivaton crested a hill, skidding down the other side. Ryos just rolled his eyes.

Suddenly, one of the dracozombies, who seemed to be developing vestigial wings, glided down, targeting them. Brandishing his gun, Kynigós targeted its wings and shot a hole in them, but the mutant was undeterred, latching on to Equivaton's tail and clawing at it.

Ryos and Kynigós both targeted he unfortunate being, but it was undeterred, trying to claw through the thick, leathery scales of Equivaton's tail and get at the meat inside. Furthermore, while their attentions was distracted, the rampaging hordes of the other zombies that were hot on their tail started to make up the ground.

"They're catching up," Lucy murmured, horrified.

Equivaton took a second to glance backwards. He growled, seeing that there were at least a hundred of the creatures pursuing them, and decided to borrow a word from Kynigós' extensive list of curses.

"Come on, you big lizard! You're faster than this!" Kynigós shouted.

But he wasn't. Equivaton' hefty, muscled frame was too dense to be fast, whereas the smaller zombies were more aerodynamic and agile. It was evident that they couldn't continue this evasion.

The Earth Dragon skidded to a halt. "What are you doing?" Asuka immediately demanded, but her question was answered as the massive dragon reached around his folded wing and swept his claw over his back, scooping up the four humans and Zena and clutching them together in his claw.

Kynigós immediately realised where this was going. "Oh no you don't!" he roared. "You are not going to -"

 _"GO."_ The word drowned out all else as Equivaton gazed at them with sorrowful eyes, rearing up and using his tail for balance. And, with a twist of his body, he threw them all into the distance, as far away as he possibly could.

As the Earth Dragon watched them go, a single tear trickled from his eye. "Be safe, you little whelps," he murmured, before dropping back to all fours and addressing the zombies swarming him. "But I won't go down without a fight!" he roared, blasting the main body of his assailants with earth magic.

{Apo-C}

Lucy screamed, her arms flailing, before Kynigós grabbed her remaining hand with his own. "Hold on!" he shouted, keeping his metal arm wrapped around Zena's torso as the dragoness squealed in equal parts fear and excitement. "Asuka?" The hunter frantically looked around, trying to pinpoint the gunslinger's location. Finally, he looked up and spotted her. She was out of his reach . . but she was above him.

With a flourish, he pulled on the cord attached to his hunter's pack, and the upper portion split open. A heaving mass of silk burst from the opening with a whoosh, swelling and spreading outwards as the wind caught it. Asuka gasped as the parachute hit her from beneath, but had the presence of mind to cling to it.

Ryos was too far ahead for Kynigos to do anything about him, but he wasn't too fussed. That guy could survive a fall.

Kynigós grimaced as their flight turned into an only-partly controlled fall. His parachute was built for one, two at most; four people, including a dragon? That was a stretch . . Zena squirmed in his grip, and he absent-mindedly murmured a soothing tune to console her.

"What happened?" Lucy spluttered, holding onto his arm for dear life.

"That goddamn lizard's playing the hero!" Kynigós roared, trying to twist in the harness and look back in the direction they had come. But he couldn't see anything; a hill blocked their view.

Barely a moment later, the four of them collapsed in a heap on a grassy knell, a mess of limbs getting tangled amidst the billowing folds of the parachute.

Lucy struggled out, trying to crawl on all fours before collapsing, painfully reminded that she didn't have all fours to crawl on anymore. Nonetheless, she extricated herself, wincing as she looked at the bloodsoaked bandages attached to the stump of her arm.

Asuka and Kynigós also pulled themselves out, before helping Zena struggle out of the silk with considerably difficulty - her horns, spikes, and claws kept getting caught in the folds, and they didn't want to risk ripping the parachute. After all, this was the second time they had used it; who was to say they wouldn't need it again?

Once they were all out, Kynigós dug out his hunter's pack and started refolding the device to stuff it back into its pocket.

"Kynnie?" Zena asked, addressing her adoptive brother. "Wheresh daddy?"

Kynigós paused, looking back at her with sad eyes. "He's . . probably not coming back,"

Zena blinked, trying to understand this, but both were interrupted by the sound of tears. They looked over, and saw Asuka crouched on the ground, tears running down her face and into her stained overalls. "Why?" she demanded through her veil of tears. "Why did all of this happen?" she sobbed, staring at the sky for answers.

At that moment, seeing her tears, something in Kynigós snapped.

"DAMN YOU, YOU BIG FUCKING LIZARD!" he raged, shouting in the direction where they had last seen Equivaton. "What the hell makes you think you can just go and pull a stunt like this?! We need you, damnit! You can't just up and die on us! What the hell kind of bastard does something like this?! DAMN YOU!" he shouted at the sky.

Far away, the final thing that Equivaton felt was joy. Joy that, because of him, his brats would survive.

A/N

 **A/N**

 **. . War.**

{Apo-C}

Amidst a pile of corpses, the mutated and mutilated form of Macbeth twitched, gazing blankly at the ceiling. " **0** bject **1** ve . . fulf **1** lled. TFEI f-f-f-funct **10** ns d **1** sabled. Enter **1** ng self-des . . ."

Distantly, Macbeth heard Kynigós shouting. "Hey! Big lizard!" He realised the hunter had _survived_.

" **0** bject **1** ve . . **f-fa1led** ,"


	12. How Are You Going To Survive This?

Log #12: How Are You Going To Survive This?

. . . There is a frayed edge. It appears that this page has been torn out of the journal.

{Apo-C}

Ryos had a plan.

It hadn't taken the other Dragon Slayer long to find the other four again, and after some grousing about why Kynigós hadn't caught him too - "Sorry, but you were out of my reach," the hunter shrugged. - he explained his idea.

"I have a crazy plan," he flatly informed the group, "but if it works, we might be able to save the entire world,"

"What's the point?" Asuka morosely asked. "There's no world left. Between the dragons and those weird zombies, it's only a matter of time until we all die. Humans are dwindling, it's probably only months until we're all extinct,"

"If my plan works, we can change all that," Ryos retorted.

"We might as well hear it, what else do we have to lose?" Lucy moaned. After all, she'd already lost her guild, her home, her boyfriend, even her right arm . . . what was left?

Ryos heaved a sigh. "Seven years ago, before all this started, I heard some rumours about something that the royal family was working on. A dark magic artefact called the Eclipse Gate. If the rumours are true, the Eclipse Gate is capable of temporal voyages,"

Kynigós blinked. " _What_ voyages?"

"You mean time travel?" Lucy interpreted, a strange light filling her eyes.

"Exactly!" Ryos confirmed. "If we go back to the year X791, we could warn the people of that time what's coming. We could prevent this entire future from ever happening!"

"That's right," Lucy nodded. "I tried to forget those times . . But I remember now. Princess Hisui and Arcadios wanted my Celestial Magic to help them use the Eclipse Gate," Ryos nodded, approving.

"Wait, then wouldn't there be two of each of us?" Asuka asked.

"Yeah, but I've been there before. It's not a big deal, trust me," Kynigós assured them. "I like this plan," he endorsed.

"That's crazy, though," Lucy pointed out. "Even if the Eclipse Gate hasn't been destroyed, how would we activate it?"

"It runs on Celestial Magic. Even without your keys, your magic should be enough," Ryos explained. "Have you got a better idea?" he challenged.

"We could go back to Astro's bunker?" Asuka suggested, recalling the place where the _Urano Metrion_ had been repaired.

"No. The dragons found that place, remember?" Kynigós shot them down. "Even if it hasn't been destroyed already, that bunker is on borrowed time. We can't go back there,"

The four humans looked around. Zena leant against Kynigós' leg, uncomprehending. No one had any better ideas.

"Guess we're going back to Crocus," Lucy shrugged.

{Apo-C}

It took almost a month. Days on end filled with ceaseless walking. Nights spent huddled together under trees and in caves. They never slept in the open, and had campfires only if they hadn't seen a dragon in at least two days and were under tree cover. Kynigós killed every hint of wildlife they saw; they always needed more food. Especially Zena; she was growing, and needed protein. At least once a week, a dragon passed overhead, sending them scrambling for cover.

But, finally, they made it. The five survivors crested a hill, and, suddenly, it was there, spread out before them like a map. The ruins of Crocus. Everything was blackened and singed, either destroyed or melted. Trails of dried lava cut channels through the houses. There wasn't a single hint of life in the entire city. Kynigós pulled out his lacrima camera and took a photograph, and tucked the resulting picture into the pocket where he kept his journal. That would keep.

"They used to call this place the Flower Blooming Capital of Fiore," Lucy reminisced.

"I haven't been here in seven years," Ryos nodded. "Was it a nice place?" Kynigós asked, and the two nodded. "It was beautiful,"

"It just looks like a place of death to me," Asuka grumbled. The hunter winced; that was right. Her father had died when the dragons first attacked here.

"Do you know where the Eclipse Gate is?" Kynigós asked Ryos, and the other Dragon Slayer shrugged. "Not specifically. But I heard it was created by the Royal Family. So it stands to reason it would be in or under the Royal Palace, Mercurius,"

"Where's that?" Kynigos asked.

"Well, Mercurius used to dominate the skyline of Crocus," Lucy pointed out, shading her eyes and looking around. "Of course, there's an obvious problem with that," Everything was in ruins, as though some cosmic being had declared no building could be more than twenty feet high and destroyed everything that exceeded this restriction.

"Mercurius directly faced Domus Flau, the arena for the Grand Magic Games," Ryos recalled. "Obviously Domus Flau isn't there anymore, but the mountain it stood on top of is," he explained, gesturing to a tall spire of rock that protruded from one edge of the city.

"So Mercurius would have been . . there! Where that hill is!" Lucy realised, pointing with her left arm to a location surrounded with debris.

"Well, let's get moving!" Kynigós ascertained.

{Apo-C}

"This place is a mess," Kynigós observed as they walked through the streets.

Zena nodded. "Yuh-huh,"

"You realise it was your lot who made this mess," Ryos huffed at the dragonet.

"Sowwy," the white creature murmured, not really understanding.

"I think we're here!" Asuka, who was ahead of them, shouted.

Sure enough, at the end of the street they emerged into what seemed like a massive courtyard, strewn win rubble and still bearing the remains of a once-mighty castle.

"Finally!" Kynigós grinned, looking up at the remains of Mercurius.

"It used to be so beautiful," Lucy sighed, eyeing the devastation.

"Both of you, shush," Ryos cautioned the two. They paused, eyeing him. "Look up," the Shadow wizard instructed them, and they did so. "Oh crap," Asuka whispered.

Nesting in the remains of Mercurius was a large, blue/green dragon, with ornate horns and serpentine coils wrapped around the struts and spires.

"Big lizid," Zena murmured.

"I think it's asleep," Lucy pointed out. "As long as we're quiet it won't be a problem,"

"Good,"

"Let's get inside. If we're lucky, the basement of the palace will be intact," Ryos ascertained, spotting what looked like an entrance to the rubble. "Follow me," he commanded, running up the hill and through a hole in the wall. Cautiously, the others followed him. The humans breathed a collective sigh of relief once they were inside and away from the sleeping Dragon.

"Y'now, it's kind of crazy," Asuka broached the topic as Ryos, who was carrying a flaming torch lit by Kynigós' magic lighter (another item sourced from his hunter's pack), led them into the dark expanses of the underground.

"How's that?" Lucy questioned.

"If this works, if we can use the Eclipse Gate and go back in time . . my parents will still be alive," the young gunslinger pointed out.

"Lucky you," Ryos said it, but the sentiment was shared among all the others in the group; they had all lost their parents long before the Dragon King Festival.

"Do you think they'll . . accept me?" Asuka nervously questioned. "I mean, there'd already be a 'me' there who's seven years younger. And . . I mean, I dunno . . I barely remember my father, or my mother when she wasn't all . ." She trailed off, thinking of Bisca Connell.

"Maybe I could see my father again, if we go back far enough," Lucy muttered.

"Don't count on it. I've time travelled before, remember? It's usually not so convenient," Kynigós pointed out.

"Oh yeah, I kind of forgot about that," the blonde Fairy nodded.

"It depends on the Eclipse Gate more than anything," Ryos interjected. "Who knows how it'll work?"

"Considering that when I time travelled, me and Equivaton went seven years further into the future than everyone else we were with, we might even get separated," the hunter also recalled, looking nervous.

Asuka stopped. "Well, everyone?" The other four all turned to look at her. "Let's make a pact,"

"What do you have in mind?" Lucy asked.

"Let's all promise that, wherever or whenever we all end up, we'll meet up in Crocus for the X791 Grand Magic Games, and warn everyone about the dragons," Asuka declared. "That way, I'm sure that at least one of us will make it!"

"Deal," Kynigós grinned.

Zena chirped in approval.

"I like your plan," Lucy agreed.

"So you want to make it a competition?" Ryos surmised.

"Call it hedging our bets," the dark-haired tween retorted, and the Dragon Slayer nodded. "Fair enough,"

The conversation lapsed.

"This is bringing back so many memories," Lucy murmured, looking around. "I was here during the Dragon King Festival,"

"Really?" Kynigós asked.

"Yeah . . we all got locked up, and we had to fight this gang of psychos called the Hungry Wolf Knights," Lucy murmured. "That's probably why we survived the initial onslaught; because we were down here in the cells when the dragons came,"

"So you don't actually know where they came from?" Ryos sharply asked.

"Nope," the former Celestial Wizard shook her head.

Ryos nodded to himself, seeming lost in thought.

"Something the matter?" Kynigós checked.

"Maybe. Just, how can we warn the people in the past about the dragons if we don't know where they came from in the first place?" Ryos asked.

There was a moment of silence, the ramifications of this fact obvious, until Zena locked eyes with Ryos and profoundly declared; "Ash-hole,"

Everyone chuckled, the tension defused. "Just the fact that they're coming will have to be enough," Asuka resolved.

"Let's hope so," the Shadow Dragon Slayer agreed. Kynigós, meanwhile, considered this, deep in thought. Ryos, after all, made a very good point.

{Apo-C}

About an hour after entering the ruins, and getting lost so many times that Kynigós started drawing a map, they eventually came to a large chamber. "This is it," Lucy whispered. "I was here. This is where the Eclipse Gate is,"

Everyone looked around the massive room, strewn with dust and bereft of human life.

"So," Asuka questioned, looking around. "How did they make the Eclipse Gate invisible?"

Lucy stopped, and took another look at the shadows. Sure enough, it wasn't just that the Gate couldn't be seen due to the shadows covering it. It was genuinely not there.

"Well, that's just great!" Kynigós shouted. "We came all this way, pinned all our lives on this crappy rumour, and we finally get here and it doesn't even exist. What the actual fuck, huh?" he shouted at the ceiling, apparently beseeching the gods.

"Um . . actually, I just remembered that they moved the Gate outside to activate it," Lucy sheepishly admitted.

You could have heard a pin drop.

Everyone stared at her in disbelief. "Ash-hole," Zena said again.

{Apo-C}

Sure enough, when they left the ruins and started looking around the outside of Mercurius, constantly wary of the sleeping dragon above them, they found a massive set of faded blue doors made of aged and weathered lapis lazuli, inlaid in a frame that was made of faded gold, not far from their exit.

"Okay, seriously," Kynigós grumbled. "We just had to walk _twenty fucking feet_ to the right and we would have seen it. Why the hell did we mess around underground so much?"

"Live and learn," Asuka philosophically shrugged.

"The Eclipse Gate runs on Celestial Magic. You're the Celestial Wizard, go take a look," Ryos commanded, and Lucy obligingly moved forwards. Asuka, meanwhile couldn't take her eyes off the massive dragon using the crumbling castle above them as a bed. "Everyone stay quiet," she commanded.

Lucy carefully checked every detail of the Eclipse Gate. "Alright," she murmured, looking up at the massive blue doors. "I think there's enough stored power to use it once,"

"Just once?" Ryos asked. "So only one of us can go?"

"No, it'll only _open_ once," Lucy corrected him. "At least, not without a massive source of power to recharge it afterwards. But that shouldn't matter,"

"Glad to hear it," Kynigós grinned.

"Can you open it?" the Shadow Dragon Slayer asked.

"I think so," the Celestial Wizard confirmed, opening a panel in the side of the frame and fiddling with the internal workings. "Kynigós, do you have any duct tape?"

"Is that a rhetorical question?" the hunter smirked, crossing to her position and fishing in his backpack, before producing a coil of silver adhesive tape. Curious, Zena followed her 'big brother'.

It only took a few minutes' tinkering until Lucy had hotwired the Gate. "Alright, here goes," she declared.

Kynigós took a step back, and cautioned Zena to follow suit, as the Fairy funnelled all the magic she had into the circuitry, and blue lights played across the aged door. Soon, the entire thing was glowing with magic.

"Now we just have to wait," Lucy assured them as she, Kynigós and Zena moved to rejoin Ryos and Asuka.

"Good," the other Dragon Slayer nodded. For Asuka's part, the twelve-year-old looked excited, ecstatic even. "I can't wait to see my home again," she murmured, tears trailing from her eyes.

And then a black blade of shadows appeared in Ryos' hand, and, in a fluid motion, he whirled and stabbed Asuka in the chest.

Kynigós stopped dead.

Lucy gasped.

Zena immediately realised something was wrong.

"I'm sorry," Ryos murmured, sounding genuinely upset, as he withdrew the blade from Asuka's stomach. "But there won't be a happy ending today,"

"What the hell are you doing?" Kynigós demanded, storming forwards as orange light began to burst from his hands.

"You wouldn't understand. How could you?" the dark-haired man snorted. "You've been a useful asset thus far, but now you're all liabilities. I can't take the chance that any of you will ruin my plan,"

"What plan?" Kynigós demanded, still advancing.

"I'm afraid I can't tell you," Ryos shook his head, before suddenly pitching forwards. "Shadow Dragon's Roar!"

The unexpected assault threw Kynigós back, sending him flying into a broken wall. The hunter gritted his teeth and got to his feet, before pulling his gun out of his bag.

He stiffened, realising that, rather than going after him, Ryos was targeting Lucy. Without hesitation, he sighted down the nicked barrel and fired.

With reflexes like lightning, the Shadow Dragon threw up an arm and let the bullet lodge in his forearm. "You hurt me. Does that make you feel better?" he asked, continuing to advance on Lucy.

"Only when you're dead!" Kynigós roared, charging forwards.

Meanwhile, Zena was crouched over Asuka. "Assie?" she murmured, soulful eyes staring into her human friend's.

Kynigós piledrove into Ryos, knocking him back against the door of the Eclipse Gate. "What the hell is wrong with you?" he roared, before punching his face.

Ryos caught the blow easily, before kneeing the hunter in the groin. Stunned by the blow, he failed to resist as Ryos threw him away, before throwing a "Shadow Dragon's Crushing Fang!" into his chest, a smashing uppercut that launched the hunter skywards.

Regaining his senses in mid-air, Kynigós' first instinct was to pull his parachute, but knew that would just make him a target. So instead, he produced his grappling hook and threw it at the top of the Eclipse Gate, where it caught, turning his downwards fall into a flying kick.

Ryos, who had just turned to target Lucy again, spotted the approaching assault from the corner of his vision. "Oh -" he spluttered, before Kynigós body-slammed him, throwing him back into the Eclipse Gate's door. The hunter landed and pressed a small button that released his hook, letting it retract, before tucking it back into his belt.

"I can see that I'll have to get serious," Ryos groused as the massive doors continued to inch open.

"Give me your best shot!" Kynigós challenged.

"White Shadow Dragon Mode," Ryos hissed in response as a corona of black and white energy cracked around him.

The hunter blinked. ". . White what?"

"So that's why part of his hair changed colour," Lucy murmured in dawning realisation. "He took Sting's White Dragon magic," Suddenly she stood up and pointed accusingly. "It was you who killed him, wasn't it?" the blond challenged.

Ryos clapped sarcastically. "Congratulations, you figured it out," he drawled, before targeting Kynigós. "White Shadow Dragon's Rough Silk!" he declared, launching a series of needle-like lasers that peppered Kynigós, blasting tiny holes in his coat and pants and knocking him backwards. Before the blond had a chance to recover, he charged forwards and sent him flying backwards.

Kynigós gritted his teeth, pulling one of his explosive bullets from his pocket and loading his rifle, accurately guessing that Ryos would target Lucy. Conveniently, while he occupied the other Dragon Slayer, Lucy had been desperately attempting to treat Asuka's injury while Zena hovered nearby. They were all in the same place.

Taking aim in less than a second, he fired, the bullet streaking past the girls and hitting Ryos' shoulder.

"Pathetic," Ryos shook his head, not even taking notice of the bullet - until Kynigós shouted "Bang!" and his shoulder exploded.

"I love those Teratoad bullets," the hunter grinned as he charged, taking advantage of Ryos leaving himself open. "Earth Dragon's Titanic Fist!" he shouted.

But his enemy had enough sense not to let him get in a hit, and simultaneously returned the blow, retorting; "White Shadow Dragon's Crushing Fang!"

The two blows met, orange and brown clashing with black and white. Kynigos' scowl met Ryos' sneer. "Give it up! There's no way a guy like you could match the power of a White Shadow Dragon Slayer!" the dark wizard spat as they struggled against each other, each hand occupying one of the other's.

In response, Kynigós shifted his centre of gravity and did what almost looked like a pelvic thrust, dislodging a small object from his belt. "That may be so, but there's something you haven't considered!" he retorted, before kicking it up into Ryos' face. "Light and shadows alike, they're both meaningless if they don't fall upon the earth!" And then the smoke bomb exploded, spraying acrid fumes everywhere. Kynigós closed his eyes and back-pedalled, making sure not to breathe in the chemicals. Ryos, of course, had no such foreknowledge, and started coughing and rubbing at his eyes as the toxic smoke irritated his eyeballs and got inside his lungs.

"Yay Kynnie!" Zena cheered.

Kynigós started winding up a crippling blow, before leaping back into the smoke where he could see Ryos struggling to regain his balance. "Earth Dragon's Jawbreaker!" he roared, launching forwards and delivering a smashing, two-handed uppercut to the stumbling Slayer, knocking him backwards.

As the smoke cleared, Ryos backflipped, rolling with the punch, and stuck a perfect three-point landing. "You have an impressive bag of tricks there," he hissed at the hunter.

"What can I say? I was a hunter before I was a Dragon Slayer," Kynigós shrugged in faux bashfulness.

Ryos lizard-licked his lips. "Well, I'd hoped not to reveal this trump card to you. But if I'm going to kill you all anyway, it doesn't really matter," He straightened, before raising his hand, and a pearl-coloured Magic Circle appeared in it. "Dragon Supremacy Magic," he declared.

"Dragon . ." Kynigós parroted. "Is this some sort of attack?"

A low growl behind him caused him to pause, and Kynigós whirled, ready to face a new threat.

But, instead, Zena was crouched low, her hackles raised, and the single, tall horn that crowned her snout lowered threateningly and glistening. At her young age, the baby dragon was already the same size as a human man, and Kynigós blinked in confusion. "Zena? . . What are you doing?"

"Do you like it?" Ryos questioned. "This magic is a sort that Macbeth and I created together. Did you ever wonder how he managed to capture and kill dragons when no one else in the world managed such a feat? It's because Dragon Supremacy Magic allows me to dominate the minds of dragons and force them to do my bidding. Even if it means sending them to their deaths . . or killing those they care dearly about," he hissed.

"You bastard," Kynigós spat. _Scenes of murder, of death and destruction played over in his mind, reminding him of what had happened to everyone else he cared about. She was his Z, she was the end of his tenure. She was the last person he'd ever allow himself to care about. And if he lost her like he'd lost everyone else, then that would be it. He'd never let anyone else into his heart again. "_ Why are you doing this?" he demanded. "What could possibly be worth turning Zena against us?"

Ryos scoffed. "You say that as though you think there's some gravity to this action. There's none. She's a wild beast, you're a hunter. And aren't you always talking about how much you want to kill a dragon?" he coaxed.

"No," Kynigós shook his head. "I won't hurt you, Zena," he told the young dragon, raising his arm.

Zena paused, and something flickered in her eyes. "Kynnie?" she murmured, seeming to struggle to raise her head.

The Dragon Slayer grinned. "That's it, Zena. Fight it. You're stronger than him,"

"That's fine," Kynigós paused in surprise as Ryos spoke behind him. "After all, there's a better option," Suddenly, Zena perked up, shaking her head like a dog. "Whuh?" she murmured, looking around in confusion.

Kynigós felt similarly. "What 'better option'?" he frowned, before stiffening as he realised what Ryos was talking about. "Lucy! Move!" he commanded, running towards Zena and beckoning for her to follow him. "Come on!" Understanding the urgency, she span and followed him as a deafening roar echoed from above them and a blast of green energy like a laser scorched the ground where they had been standing.

"Big lizid big lizid BIG LIZID!" the young dragoness screamed as the large, serpentine dragon who, until now, had been sleeping in the ruins of the castle above them, glared down at them, spreading large, leathery wings.

"Kill them," Ryos flippantly commanded, and the dragon roared again, sending the four scattering to avoid the blast.

Asuka cried out in pain, clutching her chest, and Lucy cursed. "Sorry!" she assured her, ducking behind a bit of rubble. The controlled dragon pursued them, winding up for another Roar.

"Earth Dragon's Roar!" Kynigós blindsided the creature with a strike that knocked it sideways. In response, the creature twisted its long, serpentine body and struck him with its tail, knocking him away, before rounding on him with malice in its deep-set eyes.

"I guess it's time to kill a dragon," Kynigós spat, cracking his knuckles, before stamping his foot on the ground and declaring; "Earth Dragon's Stone Spires!" Pillars of rock shot out of the ground and punched into the dragon's underbelly, knocking the wind out of it and sending its head crashing to the ground. It snorted, attempting to recover, but Kynigós was already charging forwards, his khaki jacket billowing in the wind behind him. "Earth Dragon's Titanic Fist!" he slammed straight into the dragon's snout, before leaping upwards and clinging to the bridge of the creature's nose.

The Dragon promptly went cross-eyed and raised its head, trying to flick the hunter off, but Kynigós held fast and produced his grappling hook, before throwing it down, where the cable swung around, wrapping around the green-scaled beast's snout and appearing on the other side, where the hunter grabbed the hook and tied it taut. Indignantly, the dragon tried to roar, but its jaw was held fast.

"Nice one," Lucy grinned.

Kynigós promptly ran up, towards the dragon's forehead, and located the place between its eyes where, if he knew his anatomy, there would be a soft spot. "Earth Dragon's Titanic Fist!" he declared, slamming his knuckles into the sweet spot.

The dragon choked, before collapsing back to the ground as a dull, ominous tone echoed through the area.

The boy grinned, jumping off, confident that the dragon was out of action long enough for him to deal with Ryos . . but then he realised that the reverberating note in his ears wasn't coming from the dragon.

Kynigós, Lucy and Zena all looked at the Eclipse Gate in horror as it shone with colourful light. The Gate was open.

"It's been fun," Ryos called at his former allies. "but I've got a world to rule," And with those parting words, he span on his heels and charged into the gate. Before any of them could even try to stop him, he was gone.

Knowing what the priority had to be, Kynigós disregarded the Gate and instead made for the debris where Lucy and Asuka were taking refuge. "How is she?" he shouted.

Asuka moaned as Kynigós arrived, crouching over her. Her overalls were soaked with blood, and Lucy had cut strips from Asuka's trousers to serve as makeshift bandages. "It's not looking good," the blonde admitted to her friend, staring down at the gunslinger.

Behind them, the Eclipse Gate started to close.

Kynigós reached into his bag and pulled out a small, battered tin of medicine. "Disinfectant, painkiller, bandages . . I don't think we can heal this!"

Asuka moaned and, with an immense effort, raised her head to look up at Kynigós. "There's a goddamn hole in my stomach. No one can heal that," she sardonically told him, before breaking off into coughs which she tried to use her palm to cover. She withdrew her hand, only to find it stained with blood. "Oh," she murmured.

Kynigós gritted his teeth, and, still searching his backpack for anything that might help, his fingers found the torn edge of Asuka's Vivre Card. "Hey, you said this card is connected to your life force, right?" he asked, producing it. But his breath caught in his throat as he saw it.

The card was crumbling and turning black. Already, more than half of it had disintegrated into ash.

"Just stay calm. There has to be something we can do!" Lucy exclaimed, looking desperate.

Shaking his head, Kynigós held the card up regardless and shouted; "Look at it! This card is your life! It exists, and that means you're still alive! So don't you dare die!"

Across the field, the omnipresent note started to become dim and quieter as the Eclipse Gate continued to swing shut.

"Ky-nigos," Asuka murmured, fixing the hunter's dark brown eyes with her own as her breath caught in her throat. "Promise me something,"

"No. I'm not making you any goddamn promises. You are not going to die on me! Not you too!" Kynigós shouted, because, damnit, he cared! No matter how hard he tried to harden his heart, he couldn't deny anymore that he cared about Asuka!

"Promise me that you won't stop finding people to care about," the young girl murmured as her head fell back.

Behind them, the Eclipse Gate swung shut and the magical note ended. The last scrap of paper clutched between Kynigós' fingers crumbled into dust.

For a moment, everything was silent.

"It's over," Kynigós finally mustered.

"I don't believe it," Lucy agreed.

"Ash-hole," Zena solemnly nodded.

Slowly, reverentially, Kynigós reached over and closed Asuka's eyelids. "I'll try to keep that promise," he nodded.

Lucy sighed and stood up, looking over at the massive set of doors. "The Eclipse Gate's closed," she said without inflection.

"That's it, then," Kynigós sighed. "I guess Ryos got what he wanted,"

"Gate?" the young dragon questioningly parroted, looking at her brother.

"Yeah. The Eclipse Gate. The one that was going to send us back in time so that we could save the world," the hunter reiterated. "Ryos just used up all its remaining power,"

"And where on Earth Land would we get enough raw magic power to make it open again?" the Celestial Wizard asked.

"Powuh?" Zena blinked, before looking down at herself. "E-enuhgee?"

"Yeah. Power, energy, same thing, really. Not that it matters," Kynigós grumbled.

"Enegee," Zena repeated, before dropping back to all fours and scrambling towards the massive set of doors. "I got enegee!"

Kynigós started. "What? No! Zena, no, it wouldn't be enough! There's no way you could charge the Gate single-handedly,"

"I don't got hands, I got claws," the young dragon retorted in a dry tone that she could only have learnt from Asuka.

"That doesn't make any difference!" Kynigós protested as they reached the gate, Lucy hot on their heels.

"I got enegee! I am enegee!" Zena shouted, sounding surprisingly fierce as she lashed her tail and pressed the four vertical, fan-like blades on the end of her tail together, causing it to glow with green light, before plunging it into the open port that Lucy had used before. Suddenly, for a brief instant, the Eclipse Gate flashed with green light.

Both humans drew up short in shock. ". . Kynigós. We never figured out what Zena's element was, did we?" Lucy asked as she suddenly understood what was happening.

"No we did not," the Dragon Slayer admitted as the Gate flashed with power again.

Slowly, like a spreading wave, green energy rippled across the Eclipse Gate, causing the lapis lazuli to change colour from a soft blue to a rich, emerald green. As the change completed, Zena pulled her tail free of the magical circuitry and shouted, "I'mma Enegee Drah-gon!" before roaring with all her might. A beam of green-tinted, white energy shot from her jaws and into the circuits of the Eclipse Gate, sending a fresh surge of power through the time portal.

Suddenly, part of the golden ornaments that adorned the outer rim of the Gate exploded, scattering green sparks in every direction. The solid stone surface of the doors seemed to bubble and distort like molten plastic, before the left side of the double doors creaked open, white light shining from the crack.

"She's doing it," Lucy murmured in amazement.

"I can't believe it," Kynigós agreed.

Spluttering, Zena managed one last burst of energy, before collapsing, exhausted. Seeing her, Kynigós rushed over and hastily picked up his dragon sibling, swinging her over his shoulder and letting her head rest on his backpack, before hastily rejoining Lucy.

The Eclipse Gate cracked open, barely wide enough for a man to walk through.

"Is it safe?" Lucy asked.

Kynigós shot her an incredulous look. "Was shooting a dragon with a machine gun on a runaway train safe? Was escaping a goddamn zombie apocalypse safe?" he demanded.

"Good point," Lucy admitted.

"I trust my sister. Besides, what's the alternative? I say we go!" Kynigós declared, and rushed forwards, carrying Zena with him.

"Wait, what about your trophy?" Lucy questioned, gesturing at the unconscious Dragon behind them.

Kynigós paused, barely an inch away from the cracked door, and looked back at the prone creature. His field of vision included Zena's pale scales. "Who the hell gives a fuck about some goddamn trophy? Come on!" he roared, before throwing himself between the doors and into time.

Lucy grinned. "I'm right behind you!" she cheered, running through the crack.

Everything went white.

{Apo-C}

A lot's happened over the last few months, journal.

I've made friends and watched them die. I learned to use magic made to kill dragons. I even wound up with an adopted sister. I've changed. Everything's changed.

Well, everything except for one thing.

Somewhere out there is a twisted fuck who killed my friend.

Call it déjà vu. But Erza Knightwalker killed my friends. And now she's dead. Ryos killed my friend too. And now it's just a matter of time.

But something's going to be different this time around. This time, there won't be any trophies. I'm not taking his life just to mount another head on my wall. I don't need that anymore.

This time, I'm just gonna kill him.

A/N

 **A/N**

 **Well. That's the end of the Apocrypha. (You know, bar the Opening and Closing Themes for this arc.) And what an ending.**

 **I understand that some of you will be mad. You have every right to be. But the fact remains that Apocrypha was, is, and was always going to be something fundamentally different from everything I've ever written up until this point. It's probably the darkest thing I've ever written. Because it's a story where things go wrong. A story where heroes lose. A story where there's no happy ending (thank you, Ryos). And even though it didn't play out quite how I intended it to . . I feel like I succeeded in writing that story. And that I'm a better writer for having done that.**

 **Also, some of you might be wondering why Kynigós was able to beat down the unnamed dragon Ryos controlled, when dragons are supposed to be overwhelmingly powerful, and when the canon Dragon Slayers fought dragons at the Dragon King Festival, they got beat hard. I assure you, there is a good reason, one that will be elaborated on properly when Phoenix's Eye gets up to that. But for the time being, think of it like this; there's a certain secret to fighting dragons, one that Kynigós has figured out, but none of the other Slayers have. Pay close attention to the fight scene, and you might be able to figure out what it is.**

 **Anyway. From here on out, everything is canon!**

 **Well, I mean, this is canon. But when Fairy Tail and Phoenix's Eye avert the Dragon King Festival, this entire plot line will be wiped from existence; none of it will have ever happened. Hell, there'll be a point where everyone who reads this does so after that's happened.**

 **I think that'll be, um, April. Or May? Eh, either way. See you all in Chapter 96 of "Phoenix's Eye: Crowns of Thorns"! For the last time; War!**


	13. OT:EX: Whatever It Takes (Imagine Dragon

Log #OT:EX: Whatever It Takes (Imagine Dragons)

The screen hovers over the cover of Kynigos' journal. It bears the Phoenix's Eye symbol - a bird's eye encircled with two feathers - in gold leaf, along with the word 'APOCRYPHA'.

As the opening music plays, the cover flips open and pages of the journal ripple, flicking across the screen, before it eventually opens to a blank page. An invisible pencil draws a line on the bottom to represent the ground.

 _Falling too fast to prepare for this_

Animated pictures of Kynigós and a stylised, greatly reduced version of Equivaton fall out of a scribbled hole on the paper.

 _Tripping in the world could be dangerous_

The two land, before picking themselves up as the hole disappears.

 _Everybody circling is vulturous_

Looking up, the two notice several silhouetted, inked dragons circling above them.

 _Negative, Nepotist_

One, identifiable as Nefartari, dive-bombs them, and the two run off the page.

 _Everybody waiting for the fall of man_

Ghoulia appears as the two run onto another page, and Asuka emerges and joins them as it breaks into pieces.

 _Everybody praying for the end of times_

A drawn version of the _Urano Metrion_ speeds past, and Bellamy and Lucy wave from inside. Suddenly, the train explodes, dropping Lucy with the group.

 _Everybody hoping they could be the one_

The Lacrima factory appears, before sinking into the ground; Ryos climbs out and joins them.

 _I was born to run, I was born for this_

The group reaches the end of the page, and breaks through, emerging into reality.

 _Whip, whip_

Equivaton howls at the sky.

 _Run me like a race horse_

The Dragon charges across the countryside, Kynigós, Asuka and Zena clinging to his back.

 _Pull me like a rip cord_

Boomer, Penny, Arcadios and the other two elders of Ghoulia all look up at Kynigós.

 _Break me down -_

Bisca crouches in her room, staring feverishly at her picture of Alzack.

 _\- and build me up_

Lucy crouches over the Urano Metrion's machine gun, glaring at the camera.

 _I wanna be the slip, slip_

Bellamy salutes from within the Urano Metrion's engine as it charges towards Miach.

 _Word upon your lip, lip_

The train impacts and explodes.

 _Letter that you rip, rip_

Ryos knocks away a draco-zombie and glares at the camera.

 _Break me down and build me up_

Macbeth appears behind him with a wicked smile and a red glow in his eyes.

 _Whatever it takes_

Kynigós tosses a Molotov cocktail, which smashes into Nefartari's eye and explodes. She roars in agony and crashes to the ground.

 _Cause I love the adrenaline in my veins_

Coolly, he walks away, as the dragon collapses to the ground behind him.

 _I do whatever it takes_

The camera zooms out to see Equivaton walking behind him, carrying Zena. The older dragon smiles down at the hunter, not that Kynigós pays any attention.

 _Cause I love how it feels when I break the chains_

Asuka and Lucy join him, each with grim expressions.

 _Whatever it takes_

Off to the side, Ryos walks in the same direction, eyeing the others with taut lips.

 _Ya take me to the top, I'm ready for_

Kynigós and Zena arrive at the Eclipse Gate. Kynigós turns around; there is no one behind them.

 _Whatever it takes_

He shakes his head as the Gate turns green and swings open.

 _Cause I love the adrenaline in my veins_

Without hesitation, Kynigós and Zena jump into the Gate, and the camera follows them into the time vortex.

 _I do what it takes_

As the song's final words echoed, a massive leather cover shuts on the screen, as Kynigós' journal closed; revealing, once more, the cover, stencilled with the Phoenix's Eye logo and one word; _'APOCRYPHA'_.


	14. CT:EX: Battle Cry (Imagine Dragons)

Log #CT:EX: Battle Cry (Imagine Dragons)

As the opening music plays, a scorched, ravaged planet of Earth Land spins; murky clouds covering the sky, much of the earth stained brown and barren, and dragons everywhere.

 _Just one more time before I go_

Kynigos walks alone across an open plain.

 _I'll let you know_

His feet leave bloody footprints in his wake.

 _That all this time I've been afraid_

With his flesh arm, he clutches at his heart.

 _Wouldn't let it show_

Before knocking it away with his metal arm. He grits his teeth.

 _Nobody can save us now, no_

He continues walking alone, the camera following him from behind as he descends beneath the cloudy horizon.

 _Nobody can save us now_

He disappears under the horizon. As the piano plays, it suddenly erupts in a pillar of smoke and fire.

 _Stars are only visible in darkness_

Ryos' face dominates the screen, partly shadowed. He smiles with menace and his eyes glint red.

 _Fear is ever-changing and evolving_

The Eclipse Gate glows, before splitting open with a burst of light. A shadow appears within it.

 _And I, I feel poisoned inside_

Gritting his teeth, Kynigós punches a boulder. It promptly explodes, and he grins.

 _And I, I feel so alive_

A dragon roars, and Kynigós panics, spinning and running backwards, jumping off a cliff.

 _Nobody can save you now_

Kynigós falls down the cliff, as a stream of fire appears where he just was and singes his jacket.

 _King is crown, it's do or die_

He falls past the camera, and pulls his parachute. The Phoenix's Eye emblem is printed on the top of canvas, obscuring Kynigós, and the screen fades to white, the logo lingering before it disappears too.

 _Nobody can save you now_

A large, grey tombstone appears on the screen, with Kynigós' shadow falling over it.

 _The only sound_

It is inscribed with the names of Kixezen, Bisca, Boomer, Penny, Arcadios, Bellamy, Macbeth, Equivaton and Asuka.

 _It's the battle cry_

Kynigós screams at the sky, a wordless roar of anguish.

 _It's the battle cry_

Beneath his feet is a mountain of dead bodies, animal, human, and dragon alike.

 _It's the battle cry_

He raises an arm, clutching his journal, before tossing it away, into the wind.

 _Nobody can save you now_

The force of the wind rips the pages of the book out of the cover, scattering them in the distance.

 _It's do or die_

The emancipated, leather cover crashes to the ground, open with its cover facing the sky. The camera freezes as a shaft of light falls upon the book, leaving the golden Phoenix's Eye symbol, along with the word beneath it, 'APOCRYPHA', shining.

{Apo-C}

It wasn't long since he had arrived in X791, and Ryos sighed, steeling himself from where he was resting, lying with his back to a tree. Leaving his friends in that future had hurt . . so had killing Asuka . . but it didn't matter. If he was successful, they would all lead better lives anyway. None of it mattered. It was all just . . an apocrypha.

What mattered was what he did now, in the past - ahem. The present. And he had to remember what he was fighting for.

After all. He was the only one who knew what was coming. The world had to be saved. _Frosch_ had to be saved.

And if he had to take control with an army of enslaved dragons from the past? Some collateral damage was acceptable when weighed against the end result.

"That's right," Ryos told himself. "I will subjugate this world, in order to save it. I will _not_ allow the Canopy to rise,"

Faintly, he thought that he heard something in the distance, a hoarse voice singing; _"Nobody can save you now, it's do or die,"_

Ryos frowned, and shook his head. He must be hearing things.


	15. The Back Page

The Back Page

 **Binks' Brew**

(as remembered by Bellamy)

 _Yo hohoho, yo hohoho_

 _Yo hohoho, yo hohoho  
Yo hohoho, yo hohoho _

_Yo hohoho, yo hohoho_

 _Gather up all of the crew, it's time to ship out Binks' brew.  
Sea wind blows, to where, who knows? The waves will be our guide.  
O'er across the ocean's tide. Rays of sunshine far and wide.  
Birds they sing, of cheerful things, in circles passing by._

 _Bid farewell to weaver's town, say so long to port renowned.  
Sing a song, it won't be long, before we're casting off.  
Cross the gold and silver seas, a salty spray puts us at ease,  
Day and night, to our delight, the voyage never ends._

 _Gather up all of the crew, it's time to ship out Binks' brew.  
Pirates, we eternally are challenging the sea.  
With the waves to rest our heads, ship beneath us as our beds,  
hoisted high upon the mast, our jolly roger flies._

 _Somewhere in the endless sky, stormy winds are blowing by,  
waves are dancing, evening comes, it's time to sound the drums.  
But steady men, and never fear, tomorrow's skies are always clear.  
So pound your feet and clap your hands 'til sunny days return._

 _Yo hohoho, yo hohoho_

 _Yo hohoho, yo hohoho  
Yo hohoho, yo hohoho _

_Yo hohoho, yo hohoho_

 _Gather up all of the crew, it's time to ship out Binks' brew.  
Wave goodbye, but don't you cry, our memories remain.  
Our days are but a passing dream, everlasting though they seem.  
Beneath the moon we'll meet again, the wind's our lullaby._

 _Gather up all of the crew, it's time to ship out Binks' brew.  
Sing a song, and play along for all the oceans wide.  
After all is said and done, you'll end up a skeleton,  
so spread your tale from dawn 'til dusk upon these foamy seas._

 _Yo hohoho, yo hohoho…Yo hohoho, yo hohoho…  
Yo hohoho, yo hohoho…Yo hohoho, yo hohoho…_

 _Yo hohoho, yo hohoho…Yo hohoho, yo hohoho…  
Yo hohoho, yo hohoho…Yo hohoho, yo hohoho…_


End file.
